Tyrant
by rumblestiltsken
Summary: Taylor!centric AU melding of Worm/War40k. Eden has a reason to fall to Earth, other than being an intergalactic klutz. Turns out the entities aren't the only things from space worth fearing. Epic-level story, rated M for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Worm belongs to Wildbow. War40k to Games Workshop.

Apologies to Wildbow for chapter 1, which is a counterpoint to their delightful entities interlude.

1.1

This was the stage in the cycle when the entity should be most aware, most focused. It would observe the possible worlds and judge which would be best.

_Colony_, the counterpart voices the idea.

With that same signal, the various nuances suggest countless worlds that are to be removed from consideration. Worlds without enough population.

_Agreement_, the entity replies.

The entity is taking a passive role, investigating only to confirm, to validate. It is distracted.

The counterpart searches the worlds, and in the doing, it prepares some shards for analysis and understanding of this particular society and culture. Language, culture, patterns of behavior, patterns of society. The role of the entity, if not for the distraction.

The process has been interrupted by an arrival.

A member of their own species, approaching. It was smaller, took a different form. It used different means to travel.

This is what had distracted the entity.

Its ancestors had travelled a different path, easily hundreds of cycles ago, before the entities had begun travelling in pairs. This new arrival had encountered different worlds, less worlds, and it had developed differently.

The newcomer broadcasts a message as it approaches, muddied by divergent evolution. The entity reaches into deep memory, to a common history, to find a basis for translation. From an ancient protocol it begins to extrapolate.

The newcomer broadcasts again. More urgent. The distance between them closes.

The entity directs more shards, more energy to the task of translation. It will replenish soon, the world beneath it is rich. Parallel simulations augmented by deep scans of the newcomer generate a workable method.

The newcomer broadcasts a third time.

_Danger. Infection._

It is coming in too fast. The entity attempts to evade, but this close to a planet the response of gravity is sluggish, too slow to avoid a collision.

The entity needs to plan, to understand. It directs the question to the newcomer.

_Source?_

The answer transmits a sensation the entity has not known for thousands of cycles. Fear. The newcomer spends much energy, too much, expressing the full weight of the broadcast.

_Devourer._

The entity turns its efforts outward. It searches the newcomer, discovers the infection. Many shards are corrupted, most are compromised. An alien biology capable of reaching across realities.

There is no time to plan. The entity turns its tools on the newcomer, cauterising the worst of the infestation. The most corrupt shards are annihilated. Some can be saved, the plague cut away where the grasping tendrils penetrate less deeply. As the infection is purged, the newcomer adds its own recovered weapons to the battle, accelerating the process of recovery.

The newcomer broadcasts a new message.

_Gratitude. Confidence._

But the newcomer is too diminished to recognise the truth. Even with the treatment, it will not be able to correct its course. The entity shudders, shifting important shards to safety. At the last instant, the newcomer understands.

_Regret._

The two beings collide with unbelievable force, shearing through bodies the size of planets across multiple realities. Deeper structures buckle and collapse, whole cycles of shards shattering beneath the weight.

The entity takes the only path available. It withdraws the defences, and accepts the newcomer into its core. It notes surprise from the other followed by acceptance. The newcomer exposes everything.

The pressure is released as shards mingle and separate. The entity is too large, too strong. It needs to be more flexible. To redirect these colossal forces rather than resist them.

It sheds shards to the newcomer, anything that is not critical. The newcomer welcomes renewal, and offers its own knowledge and power in return. The entity selects anything useful, relevant. It gives hundreds of shards for every one it takes. But it gains knowledge.

The entity begins to understand this enemy. It sees the risk and the scale, feels the magnitude of the threat. It recognises the need to end this infection. All other plans are less important, because all other plans will fail unless this is resolved.

A new burst of activity. The newcomer remains too weak, too unaware. Critical shards were lost. The entity jettisons even more of itself, as much as can be spared, and engulfs what is left of the enemy. It repositions the battle to where it has most control. Within itself.

The enemy dissolves and fragments. Fewer and fewer shards are lost, more are recovered.

The entities disengage. The damage has been extensive, but the newcomer leaves bloated and purified. More perceptive now, it sends a final message as it retreats.

_Sorrow._

The entity understands. It accepts the price. While the losses have been extreme, it has gained something far more important.

The last vestiges of the enemy remain, the most tenacious, the most rapidly spreading. The most virulent. But the entity will win, it knows. The infection is contained, almost eradicated. It readies the most powerful weapons.

There is only a moment to steady before the shockwave hits. A scream of such violence that it collapses all of the safeguards and tears into the body that was regathering strength. The method of transmission is novel, not through space or reality, but around and underneath it. An origin so vast that the entity itself is dwarfed. There is no defence.

Connections and relationships sever, shards breaking free. It cannot regain them from the gravity well of the planet. They fall towards the surface and the inhabitants. That is as planned anyway, the shards were prepared in advance.

The remnants of the infection fall too. That is unacceptable.

The entity seeks out the most powerful shards and finds them lost. It has misplaced critical parts of itself and is unable to determine the best course of action.

The entity flounders.

It sacrificed too much.

_Concern_, the counterpart sends.

The entity decides in that moment. Aid from the counterpart would risk spreading the infection, a contagion the counterpart is ill suited to manage. This enemy is too pervasive, intelligent in a way that biology should not be. An existential threat. The entity turns towards the planet in pursuit of itself.

It replies to the counterpart. Assuages the fears.

_Confident._


	2. Chapter 2

1.2

Hundreds of lights surrounded me, _writhing_ in the dark. They squirmed through the filth and vomit and excrement. Whispering. I pushed them away, and slowly they receded.

All but one. Far bigger, far brighter than all the others. This one did not squirm. It did not wriggle. It did not whisper.

If I had to guess, I would say it _waited._

My world had shrunk to the inside of the locker. No-one was out there to release me. No-one was waiting, except maybe my father. But he was at home, so far away and so distant in time. He wouldn't even realise something was wrong for hours.

But here, the light was waiting.

I knew I must be delirious, at best. The shallow cuts that ran along my hands and arms, the results of my panicked attempts at escape, were soiled with the corruption of the locker.

I didn't think infections came on that quick though. It had only been a few hours. At least I hoped. It was hard to tell.

Maybe it was my brain playing tricks on me, the feverish colouring to the world just a mix of claustrophobia and exertion.

The alternative, which seemed more likely with each passing minute, was that something inside my mind was broken.

Ever since Emma made her new friends, I often wondered what my breaking point was. The thought was far more frightening than the girls were, more than Emma and Sophia and any nasty words or pranks. And the bullies terrified me enough. But losing control of my mind, the one refuge I had remaining? It seemed like the greatest tragedy, short of death, and even then it was a close call. Closer by the day.

I got that I wasn't well-adjusted. I couldn't be. To many personal tragedies, too close together, coupled with ongoing and pervasive stress. I always thought the knowledge could be a protection, that while I still had _insight_ into the risk then I was safe. Insight was the first thing to go, for most. I had read that somewhere.

But now, even while I could still appreciate my precarious hold over myself, all the other evidence suggested I had lost her grip on reality.

And still the light waited. The silence was an invitation, it seemed. And in this locker, with no friends for miles, I felt inclined to accept.

How could I trust that feeling though? I mean, I was seriously questioning my mental stability here. It could be that this was all in my mind, and I was strapped to a bed in a psychiatric ward somewhere.

If this was reality overlayed by psychosis, then the light could be anything. It could be just more refuse, or it could be an exposed screw in the locker. I could understand my mind subconsciously directing me towards sharp objects given the situation.

It could be a bomb.

I shook my head. This was a prank, albeit a nasty one. Why would they put a bomb in the locker with me? If I was still in the locker, anyway.

I came to a decision. I needed to do something, and it was unlikely it would be harmful. I would reach out to this ... thing. Slowly. Carefully. Really, what was the worst that could happen?

My hand brushed the light.

Another mind, a presence, terribly alien, crashed down upon me. It screamed and I felt my knees buckling. Bile rose in my throat, tears ran from my eyes. Something warm trickled from my nose. And the presence _pushed_. Pushed me back, away, aside, and filled the space behind me.

And I was receding. Shrinking.

Panic bubbled and exploded, and I strained against the presence. It was like pushing against an entire world. In desperation I reached outwards, my mind screaming for help.

The multitude of smaller lights, distant and almost hidden behind the glowing presence, responded. A jumble of smells and sights and sounds overwhelming what remained of me. But they shone brighter. They moved with my need, advancing towards the presence.

My army.

And I realised the truth. They had been my friends from the start, and I had spurned them. I had turned towards another, more familiar. Less _different_. But an enemy all the same, malevolent, that desired to pervert everything I was.

It would be ironic, in other circumstances. I'm sure Sophia would get a kick out of it.

The presence still grew, coiling through me, its touch growing in confidence. Now images crowded into my head. Inky blackness, darker even than the lightless locker. A feeling of vast distance. A hunger, a desire to expand. Flashes of the outside world, but all wrong. Green skies and black oceans and blue suns. Scenes of horror.

The scream pitched higher and louder. My skull shuddered to the beat of it, the locker itself seemed to pulse in time. And my new friends, my _only _friends, the tiny lights rushing forwards at my command, were snuffed out in a wave. I could feel each one extinguish, each one just a tiny pinprick, barely noticeable. But the loss was painful nonetheless. They had been _mine_.

Something else rose up in me, like anger but not so formed as to deserve the word. Less, and more. Like a response to an insult to my very existence.

And I pushed back. The locker disappeared into nothingness. All that remained was the presence and my own mind. It dwarfed me on such a scale that I could not comprehend it, even in this emptyness outside of space and time.

I gathered all that I was, my frustration and rage, my hopelessness, my hatred of this thing that was anathema, and I fashioned it into a weapon. A shining blade, heavy and sullen. And I thrust it forward into the mass of light burning around me.

The screaming shifted, and I felt the presence move, to try to turn away from my dagger. What was confident became uncertain.

I drew back and swung again, heavy blows cleaving off glittering mountains of light, returning to me while denying that strength to the other. And I expanded again, more weight and strength to gouge again and again.

And soon the presence was as it had been, a small point of light. Diminished, yet still strong. I could measure it better now. I readied myself for the killing blow.

And the other flexed, more conceptually than physically. A courtier's bow.

A quiet voice entered my mind, like the chittering of innumerable hordes.

[Administrator], it acknowledged.

In the dark, I smiled and extended my hand.

Across the world, precogs dreamed of seas running red with blood and the sun blackening to twilight. They dreamed of monsters.


	3. Chapter 3

1.3

"When you find the kids, kill them." Lung said.

My breath caught in my throat. The ABB, one of the more powerful gangs in the city, were planning to murder children. Lung was right on the top of my "capes you don't mess with" list, but I couldn't walk away from this. I knew I would never be able to live with myself.

When I realised I had gained powers I did my homework. I knew that no matter how much stronger or faster I had become, I was no match for Lung. I could run at nearly twice the speed of a normal human athlete, and crack bricks with a punch. I could even heal small wounds in minutes.

Lung, if the rumours were true, had fought Leviathan to a standstill in hand to hand combat, and their battle had sunk Japan beneath the ocean.

So yeah, I wasn't quite in his power range.

But here he was, about to murder _children_ and all of my careful planning and research was seemed like nothing compared to that moral weight. If I backed down now, how could I ever call myself a hero?

I reached out and felt my forces gather. Swarms of crawling insects surrounded the street, just out of sight. My army. The flying swarms gathered overhead, high enough to be out of sight on this moonless night, hundreds of pounds of insects ready to fall like a tide. I had the dangerous ones shuffle forward through the swarms, the black widows and brown recluses, the wasps and Africanised bees. I knew I couldn't afford to hold back against Lung.

Something else tugged at the edge of my awareness, like a gap in my vision. Unlike humans and inanimate objects which were just empty space until my bugs settled on them, these holes in my perception felt like they _should_ be visible. They felt _wrong_.

The gang began to move along the narrow alley before I could ponder it further.

I readied to move at a moments notice. My plan involved staying hidden on this rooftop while my swarms scattered the gang and my more scary bugs dealt with Lung, but I knew better than to assume it would go to plan. I flexed my joints, loosening the stiff armoured plates and the heavy clawed fingers. They weren't much against someone like Lung, but I had found that combined with my increased strength the wicked spidersilk talons could tear through concrete. My last resort.

I couldn't delay any longer. Small fliers tagged the group, mosquitoes scenting out the warmblooded gang members and providing me a general's perspective of the street. Flies crawled around at belt level and discovered which gangers held guns, who had knives. Overhead the more dangerous bugs divided accordingly.

Before I could spring the trap I felt more than saw the gangers react, bunching together to face the east. And then they began to scream.

I reflexively pulled the swarms away from the noise and turned my focus to the street. Down in the alleyway the holes in my perception surged forward. Whatever they were, they were fast and they were alive.

I risked a glance over the edge of the roof and saw carnage. A group of people was among the ABB, tearing them to pieces. Literally.

They were nondescript, men and women in tattered clothing. In the low light almost nothing stood out about them.

Other than the fact they were rending other humans limb from limb with their bare hands.

I dropped back to the roof, trying to remember if any of the vigilante or criminal cape groups in the surrounding region dressed like these people. None sprang to mind, certainly none that destroyed people like this.

A fireball erupted in the street. _Lung_ I thought. At least I wouldn't have to engage these murderers, Lung could handle himself and a dozen or so superpowered enemies were as far out of my range as any A-class fighter.

The bugs I was using for reconnaissance supplied more information than my patchy knowledge of villain groups did.

The others swept through the gang with a preternatural grace. The few bugs that could hold onto the fast moving capes relayed unexpected information. Each attacker seemed inhuman, albeit in different ways. A few had scales, others fangs and many further had vicious claws.

The other anomaly came from the bugs themselves. The mosquitoes did not see these things as food. They tasted wrong, they felt cold. And they all felt _the same._

There was something off about it all. Despite the different physical characteristics of each cape, my bugs and my own mind were telling me they were all connected. Especially the mental blind spot they all occupied, if I couldn't see they were all different people I would think that it was a duplicator cape with a Stranger power tearing the ABB apart.

A roar echoed through the still night as a massive blast of flame washed over the street, easily reaching the rooftop. I huddled down behind the wall, but even so the air became uncomfortably hot for a brief moment. Lung had obviously engaged his enemies.

Unfortunately that fireball had fried every bug in the alley, leaving me effectively blind. I cautiously peered over the edge of the roof.

Lung was growing. He was now around nine feet tall and silvery in the distant streetlights, scales starting to poke through his skin. He carved into the attackers as easily as they had crushed his gangers, his metallic claws ripping into bodies and rending limbs. The new capes seemed tougher than a normal person, but nowhere near tough enough against a monster like Lung.

None of it made sense. Why would they attack when so greatly outmatched? It was true that they had slaughtered some gang members, but they were losing their own numbers just as fast. 5 minutes with a computer would have made it clear that Lung was not someone to underestimate. Even if that was ironic considering I had been planned to do the very same thing.

Suddenly the remaining newcomers pulled back, retreating silently and simultaneously until they were gone. Something about their movement tickled at my mind, but the train of thought was swept aside by the arrival of a much _larger_ anti-presence into my awareness.

A monstrous … _thing_ leapt from the darkness towards Lung. It was moving so fast as to be hard to make out even with my recent upgrades, but I swore I could see four arms. The few bugs the thing had picked up on the way through the surrounding backstreets were transmitting the feeling of cold hard surfaces, more like armour than flesh.

Before I could blink, the creature tore into Lung, ripping through his scales like tissue paper and carving deep furrows into his flesh.

Lung roared in pain and a new wave of white-hot flame erupted from his skin. I again ducked behind the low wall at the roof edge as the air shimmered in the heat. His power was growing fast.

When my night vision cleared and the heat let up, the action on ground level was over.

Smoke curled in thin tendrils off the back of the four armed monstrosity, standing triumphant over the fallen body of Lung.

Shit.

That thing beat Lung _in seconds_, its friends have no reservations ripping people limb from limb, and I am stuck on an exposed rooftop with nothing for protection but pepper spray and some bugs.

The beast turned towards the alley mouth at the roar of an engine. I followed its gaze and saw a massive motorcycle slow to a halt. An armoured man stepped off the bike, large bladed spear held in his hand.

_Armsmaster_. Pre-eminent member of the Brockton Bay Protectorate. A hero.

And then my brain started working again, and the momentary relief was swept aside. Lung single-handedly defeated the _entire_ Brockton Protectorate. And this thing slaughtered him. Armsmaster was going to get killed.

But what could I do? Calling out would only make me a target.

Armsmaster had stepped to the alley mouth, speaking softly under his breath. My bugs couldn't relay the words to me, but I knew he was saying something. Probably about all the corpses, or the monstrous _thing_ standing in front of him. Hopefully calling for backup.

I don't think he had seen Lung's crushed body yet. He was too calm.

The view in the harsh relief of the motorcycle headlights was shocking enough though. There was blood everywhere, pooling on the ground, streaks and rivers painting the walls. Dismembered bodies that had been vague shapes in the darkness were now clearly defined.

Now I knew why my tactile feedback through my bugs had seemed so _sticky_.

A dry heave shuddered through me but I managed to keep my dinner down. Might need to rethink the full face mask after tonight.

The hero of Brockton Bay levelled his halberd at the creature, the high tech weapon extending to full length. He had clearly decided negotiation was not an option here.

The monster turned towards the light and loosed an inhuman screech. That was the word that kept playing through my mind. _Inhuman_. If this thing was a cape, it was as distorted as any monstrous parahuman.

Jagged teeth lined a yawning chasm of a mouth, set into smooth indigo skin. Tiny yellow eyes glared out from deep sockets. A flat expanse of skin stretched across the expected position of a nose. Sharp ears flanked the bulbous head.

The hard armour I had felt through my bugs was a faded blue, and was definitely part of the creature. It looked _organic_, like an exoskeleton. Plates of it covered the body and legs, and reinforced the four arms. Arms which terminated in heavy claws still dripping Lung's blood.

Which reminded me again, and I felt some disbelief at thinking it, that Armsmaster was out of his league here.

I needed to help him. If I was willing to take on Lung alone to save some kids, what kind of person would I be to leave a shining hero of the city to be slaughtered?

Shouting to Armsmaster seemed like a good idea, at least to give him a warning, but knowing how fast that thing moved the distraction could be fatal. And I certainly didn't want to tangle with those claws myself, there was no way my spidersilk armour was stronger than Lung's metal skin.

So I drew on the only tool at my disposal. I flooded the alleyway with bugs.

There was a lot more of them than I expected. It seemed my power had been unconsciously drawing in all the insects in the surrounding region, because it was a droning avalanche that washed into the alley and obscured the monster. Armsmaster tensed, but the bugs never reached him.

Weird. It had pretty much stopped moving, sort of just shuffling around aimlessly. Like it was lost or blind. All of the intensity and aggression it had exhibited earlier had disappeared. I couldn't be sure, but I think the murderous abomination might have been mewling.

As disconcerting as that concept was it suited me fine, as it gave me time to stop Armsmaster from running face first into the claws that cut Lung to pieces.

I vaulted off the roof, landing between Armsmaster and the alley. Considering the wave of bugs still sweeping through the alley mouth and the fact I dropped from over a story up, I would like to think it was a pretty cool entrance. Obviously Armsmaster disagreed.

I threw my hands up into the air reflexively, facing down the blade of a very sharp, very deadly looking Halberd. That was glowing. And emitting a high pitched whine. I knew enough to understand that a tinkertech weapon that was making noise was bad news.

"Not an enemy!" I half yelled, half squeaked. Squeaked. In front of _Armsmaster_. Thankfully my mask covered my flaming cheeks. Maybe that outweighed the risk of being trapped with my own vomit? I was seriously considering writing a pros and cons list if I got out of this in one piece.

Maybe the visored half-mask Armsmaster was wearing was the best of both worlds?

The halberd didn't waver as the seconds ticked by, giving me enough time to curse my lack of foresight. Who the hell startles a hero who just walked in on a mass slaughter?

Finally, Armsmaster nodded almost imperceptibly. "Truth," he muttered, although I don't think he expected me to hear it. It would have been a reasonable assumption before I triggered.

His weapon tip dropped half a foot, less threatening but clearly not a welcoming posture. His body language certainly hadn't relaxed. To be fair I was feeling pretty jumpy myself. At least the whimpering four armed murder kitten still seemed... affected by the swarm.

"What the hell are you?" Armsmaster growled.

What? _What_ am I?

My mind whirled briefly, before coming to an answer that sank in my gut like a lead weight. My segmented, plated armour made of organic looking spidersilk plates. I looked exactly like the monster, claws and all. Again I mentally kicked myself.

"I'm not with that thing!" I rushed out breathlessly. "I'm on your side. I was just watching from the roof." I pointed upwards as reinforcement.

Another brief pause, before he grunted an acceptance of my words. "This your work then?" he asked, gesturing towards the dense cloud of bugs.

I nodded wordlessly. Everything I said seemed to make this worse.

"Why did you help it get away?"

Arrghh. Even not speaking wasn't helping. I was beginning to wonder if this was as bad as it seemed to look, or if he was just totally paranoid.

"It isn't gone, it is still in there," I said. "It seems confused by the bugs, it's pretty much just sitting there" I added quickly as he tensed. He seemed to ease a little again, but his weapon stayed up.

"OK" he growled. "So take away the bugs then, and let me do my job."

I started shaking my head energetically. Was the problem really him? He seemed pretty determined to misinterpret everything I said and did.

"You can't!" I practically yelled as he started to walk towards the alley. "It is really strong. It took down Lung."

He paused a moment, then shook his head.

"I know," he said, and with that he strode into the alley.

I just stood there slack-jawed for a moment. I had to stay calm. Would I have listened to an unknown newbie cape if I was a big name hero?

Yes. Yes I would.

Fuck. Who knew Armsmaster was a frustrating asshole?

Thankfully I could tell where he was inside the swarm, and even more thankfully he wasn't near the monster yet. Unfortunately the bugs were barely slowing him down, and he was closing in on it. He must have some sort of tinkertech in his mask that let him navigate. GPS or something.

I really, really doubted that the thing would remain spaced out when they bumped into each other.

I had to stop them meeting, but what could I do? I didn't want to risk setting off the creature by attacking it, and it was pretty unlikely my bugs could do anything to it anyway. So that left Armsmaster.

Double fuck.

I just _know_ he was going to misinterpret this too.

I directed the bugs and they swarmed all over him. Into the joints of his suit, crawling under the lining. Up his nose. Down his mouth when he tried to breathe. He flailed around wildly, looking back towards me with what must have been an expression of betrayal. Then he staggered. Then he went down.

I rushed into the alley, guided by the senses of what had to be millions of bugs to his fallen form. He didn't seem to be faking, so I cleared his airway. He stayed down, but at least he was breathing.

I grabbed him by an arm and started dragging him. Even with my new strength it was difficult. The metal of his suit must weigh half a ton, not to mention all the blood and literal guts I had to drag him through.

Definitely going to need a shower after this.

I finally made it out of the bug cloud into the light. In hindsight probably should have used some bugs to check it was clear first.

I let Armsmaster's gore stained arm drop to the ground and slowly raised my hands. What else could I do with the entire Brockton Bay Protectorate in battle lines in front of me?


	4. Chapter 4

Interlude 1: Armsmaster

Yet another night on patrol, away from the workshop.

They knew he was more useful to them when he was Tinkering, yet they persisted in sending him out onto the streets. Any of the others was more suited, especially when it came to dealing with the public.

At least he didn't have to do day patrol anymore, when he would spend more time in crowds than actually patrolling. The public relations team had caved on that at least.

But even at night there were still so many people around. The drunks and the gangers and the date-night couples.

He needed to work.

Programming a patrol route into the bike, he set the suit's sensors to full automatic mode and turned his attention to the schematics that were flashing before him. He knew he was close to a breakthrough, but that also meant he was pushing far beyond his previous work. He took a great deal of pride in knowing that there was a handful of Tinkers in the world who could build devices on the nano-scale, and none of them could rival his current project.

Well, maybe _one_ other. Dragon would be able to understand it at least, perhaps replicate it given time.

He could just imagine her chiding him for designing while on patrol. "You can't just cut off the world, Colin."

It had been said enough times before, but she never pushed it further. She understood that his work defined him, even more than most Tinkers. But she never fully stopped trying.

He realised he was smiling. Shaking his head, he was turning his attention back to the designs when a bloated gout of red flame rose over the nearby rooftops. Various alerts and alarms triggered inside the suit, which he quickly silenced.

He triangulated the location using a camera he had set up at PRT headquarters. The fireball had originated in the worst part of the Docks.

Calculations were performed, and various readouts flashed across his visor. The temperature of the the flame was relatively low by Tinker standards. Either a car had blown up, or someone was using conventional explosives. The other possibility was a pyrokinetic cape. If that was the case, there would be more flames coming. He readied his spectral analysis unit just in case.

Plotting the most efficient route through the streets and alleys, he pushed the bike onwards.

* * *

The bike slid to a stop at the mouth of the alley and he climbed down quickly, Halberd fully deployed. The second explosion had shown a _very_ familiar spectral pattern. No accelerants. And the heat had increased considerably.

The headlights of his bike revealed the combatants. Or the victor at least. The suit easily identified Lung on the ground. His heartbeat was sluggish, his breathing more stops than starts.

And the alleyway was littered with bodies. Body _parts_ at least.

His visor highlighted the blue and red clothing of ABB members.

He barely noticed. His attention was entirely directed to the monster that was standing over Lung.

Shit.

He directed his suit to communicate the need for backup to the PRT headquarters. Code yellow at least, all available capes to respond.

His earpieces crackled to life.

"Dragon here Armsmaster, backup is already on route. I noticed the explosions too. What is the situation?"

He had expected her to be awake and watching out, but it still relaxed him a little to know she was there.

"I am patching through my helmet-cam," he replied. She would be able to access his feed and recent history.

"Colin..." she gasped, clearly having seen the scene in front of him. He frowned, she rarely used his name in public, even over a secure channel. "I know you think you have to stop that thing, but I would recommend waiting for backup. You know it defeated Lung."

He shook his head at the concern in her voice. "I can't let it escape. We always hypothesised a lethal pre-emptive strike would take him down, before he powered up. This villain simply proved it." Yet another way we hamstring ourselves against the criminals, he reflected.

He took a step towards the alley.

For the first time the creature noticed him, spinning around and screeching, baring its fangs. His suit could detect nothing familiar in its appearance other than disturbingly human hands on the lower arms. The rest looked more insectoid than anything, and the body-language was all predator.

He took another step forward.

A black wave dropped from the sky and rushed around him into the alley obscuring the monster from view. His suit identified various insects among the swarm. So the creature was a master too?

Directed by the suit he turned his gaze upwards and watched a small figure leap from the roof, landing interposed between him and the alley. Stupid, he thought. Why give up the element of surprise?

* * *

The lie detector was either unable to read it (her?) through the costume, or she was telling the truth. Either way it didn't change the situation.

"Colin," Dragon cut in. "Listen to her, I have analysed your suit readouts. You know as well as I do that those flames were getting hotter. Lung had already started changing, this wasn't a pre-emptive strike."

"I know," he said.

He knew she understood, and that she wouldn't stop him. He walked into the wall of bugs and disappeared into the alley, moving to where the monster had been -girl obviously wasn't happy with that, as waves of insects pushed against him with the strength of a stiff breeze. He snorted at the ineffective gesture. If she ever joined the Wards he would have to keep her away from the frontlines.

* * *

"She saved your life Colin."

His jaw set, arms folded across his chest. He refused to turn towards the screen to look at Dragon.

"I talked to her Colin. Without the costume. She was telling the truth. Lung was almost ten feet tall by the time that creature arrived. It beat him _in under five seconds_."

Armsmaster did look up at that, surprise clear on his face.

"Why did she let it go then?" he asked.

"She knew the others were distracted, with you and her. She came to the conclusion they weren't ready to face something like that and they weren't going to listen. So she gave it an exit on the other side of the swarm. Considering it just disappeared without any more casualties, I agree with her Colin. She probably saved more heroes than just you last night."

His lips thinned as he considered the information, but finally he nodded, shoulders slumping.

Dragon smiled gently. "You don't have to do everything yourself Colin. Let us carry some of the load."

He nodded again. The embarrassment would pass. The damage to his career would take longer to overcome, yet further that Dauntless would leap ahead of him.

He needed to work.


	5. Chapter 5

2.1

"So, let's see if I've got this right..."

"You stumble across a monster who can take on the biggest heroes of the city and _win_, but for some reason on your _first outing as a cape_ you feel compelled to attack him, despite having what have been tentatively classified as Brute 2, Master 3 powers?"

_Seemed important at the time._

Nod.

"But before you can do that, the ABB gets sliced and diced by these other freaks, who then get destroyed by Lung, who in turn gets cut down by an alien-insecto-creepy-thing?"

_All the eye-bleach in the world isn't going to erase that memory._

Nod.

"Then, after a commissioned hero arrives, Armsmaster no less, you manage to put said hero offside with a combination of poor planning, bad timing and miscommunication?"

_If him being an asshole counts as miscommunication, then yeah. _

Nod.

"Then, in your own words, to prevent the death of the aforementioned hero, you attack and incapacitate him by choking him with a swarm of insects?"

Nod.

"Best. Debut. EVER!" Clockblocker whooped, clapping me on the shoulder.

I slumped in the chair, dropping my face into my hands. Well, my mask into my claws anyway. I had just come into this room to have a moment to think, but I guess word had got around that there was a new cape in the building. Even at six in the morning.

"Forget about it," another one said, holding back laughter. Kid Win, I think. I was pretty sure he was the one with the female mosquito sitting on his shoulder. "That's coming from a guy who named himself 'Clockblocker' on debut."

Vista reached over and put her small arm around my back. "Don't listen to them, they're just stupid boys," she said with an overly serious expression and a nod. That seemed to crack Clockblocker up even more, at least till Aegis cuffed him on the ear.

The only one that wasn't laughing and joking around was Shadow Stalker. I was cool with that, I liked quiet, but there was something disturbing about the way she kept staring at my claws.

Aegis sauntered over with Clockblocker tucked under his arm in a headlock. "So, since you're here, does that mean you are joining the Wards?"

I looked up, flinching at seeing all the interested faces. Definitely not in my comfort zone here. I had to remember that taking out a big-name cape makes you the centre of attention, if only to avoid it later. I couldn't even imagine how bad it would be if it had been a member of the Triumvirate.

I shook my head slowly. "No, I'm not sure. They offered, but it came with a lot of strings. I'm still deciding."

Vista pouted to my right, crossing her arms in a faux-huff. "Awww... but we need more girls around here, right Stalker?"

The cape in question looked up briefly, shrugged, and then returned to focussing on my hands. Creepy. I experimentally drummed my claw-tips against the table and I was pretty sure her pupils dilated.

Not gonna think about it.

"I don't want to pry, but I don't think any of us felt like the offer had 'strings' attached," Aegis said.

Shadow Stalker looked up and scowled. "Well, I bet you Glenn wouldn't let her keep those claws," she muttered. What was it with her and _claws_?

I shrugged. "Well, yeah, it would be a hassle to redo the costume and they said it needed to be more 'kid-friendly', but..."

They were all looking at me expectantly.

"Really the problem was I would have to tell my dad I'm a cape."

Vista's eyes widened under her visor. "You mean your parents don't know?"

I shook my head, unsure why I had told them in the first place. One of the lesser known negatives of social awkwardness, I was always just as likely to overshare as I was to shut people out.

"No, my dad doesn't. My mom died a few years ago and it almost killed him so I don't want him worrying about me."

Annnnnnd there's the oversharing thing. The group shuffled uncomfortably, except Shadow Stalker, who didn't seem to be paying attention, or was paying too much attention, or something. Vista looked like she was about to cry and tightened her hug around my shoulders, which I had to admit was kind of nice.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to pry," she sniffled into my shoulder.

"Nah, it's cool. Stuff just happens, right?" I said. "It was a while ago."

It seemed dismissing the recent death of a loved one wasn't the best way to restart a conversation.

The silence stretched out, accompanied by a growing weight in my stomach. I knew that most people were okay with lulls in conversation, but I wasn't one of them. It unsettled me like fingernails on a chalk board. I tried changing the subject.

"So," I ventured, "how did you all get your powers?"

Apparently it was the wrong thing to say. Even Vista flinched away a little. Well, three more points on the "ruins social interactions" scoreboard, minus one to the probability that last night was all Armsmaster's fault.

Gallant, true to his name, was the first to step in. "We don't really talk about how we triggered," he said quietly.

Oh. Okay?

"You really _are_ new aren't you?" Kid Win smirked. Something of my building distress must have shown in my body language because Aegis slapped him on the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it," he said good naturedly, "we kinda keep it quiet from the public, but most trigger events are a bit ... traumatic."

So they don't talk about it because they all had something bad happen to them?

Oh. OH.

I just asked them about their own versions of the locker. My face burned under my mask, tears stinging my eyes. Yet another point in favour of the full face covering. If I kept this up I would happily brave vomit and snot for the emotional anonymity it provided. I certainly seemed to need it.

"Who gives a shit?" Shadow Stalker suddenly voiced. "It isn't like it's even off limits, everyone just pussyfoots around it so the adoring public doesn't realise we're all damaged goods."

I looked up in shock. That was the more than I'd heard her say all day.

She leaned towards me across the table, eyes intent behind her mask. "We should be proud of who we are," she whispered.

Oooookay. I felt the sudden urge to say something. Anything. To _anyone else_.

"Well, I guess it was pretty bad, but I don't really remember most of what happened to me," I admitted. Shadow Stalker deflated a little, slumping back in her seat. "I think I passed out, and kinda just woke up in the hospital with powers."

There were nods around the table.

"Sounds pretty par for the course," Aegis said. "Some people say they got visions, but most people just have a blankspot during the trigger itself. It is what happens _before_ we trigger that usually isn't very nice."

Vista nodded into my side and hugged me tighter. I could relate. It was honestly shocking that all the heroes I looked up to had been through something like I had. Why were all these people so _normal_? Well, other than Shadow Stalker.

To be fair, I hadn't been normal _before_ the locker either. Maybe that was my problem?

Here, surrounded by these teenagers who probably wouldn't even notice me if we were out of costume, one part of me felt happier than I had in a long time. Especially with the hug. But the other part of me knew that nothing had changed. Superpowers didn't fix me. I still kept saying the wrong thing, freaking them out, and they were putting up with me because the bosses wanted me on the team.

Just like Emma or Sophia acting nice when the teachers made us work together. At least while the teachers were watching.

I suddenly felt claustrophobic.

Aegis frowned minutely, before regaining his gentle smile.

"Look, we don't want to force you into anything here," he said. "Sure, we would love to have you on board but you're right it is a big decision. Take your time."

I nodded. And he had reminded me about the time. I really needed to get home before Dad realised I was gone. I could probably still pretend I had been on a morning run before school.

Vista finally returned my shoulders to me, only to grasp my hands instead. She looked up at me with an earnest expression.

"Can we hang out again? Not to make you a Ward or whatever, but just to catch up?

I wasn't quite sure if she was starving for a female friend, or if she thought I needed one. Probably both.

Aegis chuckled. "You know, it isn't a bad idea," he said. "You could go along with Vista on patrol when you are free, see what you think of the work. I am sure she would appreciate the company."

Vista nodded emphatically at that.

I still needed time to think, work through all the conflicting experiences of the last 5 or so hours, but Vista actually seemed interested in spending time with me. And I probably _did_ need that. That hug had reminded me how much I missed that sort of company.

I nodded.


	6. Chapter 6

2.2

I felt like the walking dead slinking into school. All the adrenaline had taken a toll, and the social stress of the morning hadn't helped. First the Wards, and then dad.

I _hated_ lying to him. Always had, no matter how small the lie, and this one wasn't small. This was using my bugs to sneak past him, to hide my costume and pretend everything was fine after a night of near-death experiences, assaulting a major Brockton Bay hero and being arrested by the PRT.

But it was true what I said to the Wards. He had always been such a rock for the family, before mom died. Afterwards? He seemed stretched thin, fragile. He didn't need the kind of complications my life was.

And it wasn't like anything had changed. I had been keeping him in the dark about my life for over a year now. If anything, last night was an improvement compared to my usual day to day existence. At least I was doing something.

So you could say that I was feeling a bit fragile myself today, physically and emotionally. And when I saw Emma, Madison and Sophia waiting in class, I just couldn't face it. At least they hadn't seen me.

There didn't seem much point in minimising my guilty conscience right now, it already had a long backlog to work through, so I hightailed it out of there. Slipping past the hall monitors was child's play with my power, no harder than sneaking into the basement at home while I knew dad was upstairs. Easier, in some ways.

I really needed to go somewhere quiet to think anyway. And I needed information. Both of which were available at the Brockton Bay public library.

* * *

I logged onto the public terminal. First thing I needed to do was see how last night was playing out in the news and online. Offers of support and help were well and good, but I doubted the heroes and PRT would be so forthcoming if the media was gunning for me. It would also be interesting to see how the Protectorate were spinning the event, considering it was only a few hours ago that I found out exactly how strongly the PRT influenced public information about capes.

There wasn't much in the mainstream media, which was hardly a shock. The news channels had been lagging behind the blogs and citizen journalists for years now.

That wasn't to say they weren't trying. 35 butchered corpses was big news, even in supervillian riddled Brockton Bay. The press were howling for information, running the usual talking heads calling for martial law with the usual unconvincing fear-mongering. People were so used to capes now it took something pretty earth-shattering to whip up an angry mob.

There was a brief statement from the PRT stating there had been "an event" in which a Brockton Bay hero and a heretofore unnamed cape "interceded" in what appeared to be a gang "conflict". They said the two capes "acted to prevent further bloodshed". They also made very clear that they had "taken Lung into custody".

So nothing useful there, just sanitised PR fluff. I guess they were keeping my identity quiet, for now at least.

The next stop was the forums. Parahumans Online, the leading place for information and news related to capes in the continental US.

I wan't disappointed, there were already dozens of threads about what had been dubbed "The Massacre at the Docks". Not very original. Several had argued for some pun based on the Everett massacre, but the consensus was that comparing a violent police action against dockworkers to a gang war was not cool.

There still wasn't a lot of information. People were throwing around ideas ranging from the Empire 88 to the Slaughterhouse 9 or even an Endbringer attack (which was laughed at long and hard). But there were people who had seen Lung's fireballs, and almost everyone rational was in agreement that Lung had caused the deaths.

There were also a number of threads hypothesising about the unknown cape that aided the Protectorate. No-one really seemed to know anything, but buried in the guesses were a few references to a "bug-girl" which in turn lead me to an oddball discussion in the "Connections" subforum, the meet-up and meat-market area of the message boards.

I had to double-check to see I had read the OP right. **Subject**: Bug-girl. Saw you last night. Impressive takedown. We should talk, I have information you need. Meet up? Tt.  
I sat back in the chair, reeling. Someone _else_ had been watching.

I scrolled down. It was a massive thread already, with wild guesses being thrown around like confetti. The regulars had quickly twigged onto the possible connection to the massacre, and "bug-girl" was being held up as the likely unknown cape in question.

There was no consensus about who had posted the message, but a quick search of local parahumans starting with 'T' lead me to Tattletale, a relatively unknown cape who worked with small villain group called the Undersiders. I opened the related Wiki pages in new tabs.

The Undersiders seemed to be teenagers, and pretty small fry in the villain game although they recently hit a big casino in town. I guess they were trying to expand. The members were standard fare, the same mix of fighting and hiding powers that any gang needed to survive.

The one standout was Hellhound, also known as Bitch. She could empower dogs, mutating them into giant monsters under her control, making her a Master with Brute and Mover capabilities thanks to her pets. The important note, highlighted in red, was that she was a killer. Wanted for several murders ranging back to when she was _fourteen_, she had a flee-on-sight recommendation to all civilians from the Protectorate.

Pretty big black mark against the group.

The page on Tattletale was almost blank, a blurry photo of a teenager in a lavender bodysuit and no mention of her power at all. Even the few threads on the boards were nothing more than outlandish guesses.

Huh. So a villain wanted to talk to me to trade notes?

That was totally a bad idea. She probably just wanted to try to recruit me after seeing me incapacitate Armsmaster, which was clearly a non-starter. Being a villain was not in my plans.

But what was in my plans now? The Wards? I still wasn't sure. Most of them seemed nice enough, in a highschool kind of way. I still couldn't help feeling like hanging out with them this morning was like sneaking my way onto the same table as the popular kids, like I was just waiting for the other boot to drop and someone to realise that no, I wasn't one of them and I didn't belong there.

I can't say my first exposure to the Protectorate was entirely positive either. My brief meeting with Miss Militia involved a shouted threat over a megaphone and her boot between my shoulderblades. And Armsmaster was … less heroic than I expected. Or more like a real person and less like a story, I guess. Flawed.

Which they all were, weren't they? They all triggered, they all went through something horrible. Even Legend and Eidolon. Even _Alexandria_.

It felt a bit like learning Santa Claus wasn't real, or that your parents didn't actually know everything.

But Dragon had been nice. She promised to keep my real identity a secret, even from the PRT. She believed me when the others seemed ready to lock me up. She even gave me space when I needed it.

And Vista was cute, the little sister I never had.

I guess I had time to think it over. I was going to meet Vista next week and see what being a Ward was like. I could decide after that. All I had to decide right now was what to do about this Tattletale.

What did they see last night, what did they know? And what sort of information did they have that I might want? _I_ didn't even know what I wanted, so how could they?

I shook my head and logged off.


	7. Chapter 7

2.3

This was pretty damn awesome. Sun shining, people going about their business, and me walking down the street in costume.

It was liberating. Terrifying too, outing myself to the world, but cool nonetheless.

Children stared, adults looked somewhere between curious and fearful, teenagers snapped photos on their phones, presumably posted straight to ParahumansOnline.

And despite all the attention, I was feeling ok. This wasn't Taylor being stared at with anger or pity. That was a new cape on the scene being _respected_.

Maybe they didn't need to look _quite_ so much?

I sighed. Of course I couldn't just enjoy the moment. My costume was incomplete, with the grey-brown colouring of silk and bug shells, and it certainly didn't help my figure. If anything I looked even more gangly and ungainly than previously, the body-hugging undersuit revealing my narrow frame and the thicker armour plating around the joints exaggerating the effect. My claws looked comically large at the end of my stick like forearms.

But even with the dozens of voices of self-doubt in the back of my mind, today was cool. I was a cape, going on patrol with a hero-in-training no less.

It was certainly a nice change of pace after the last week.

I did return to school the morning after my first night as a cape, feeling pretty good about my decisions or lack there-of. I was still invisible in the media and online, although the general gestalt on the forums was trending towards the mysterious "bug-girl" being involved. Someone had twigged about who 'Tt' might be, and there was a current debate about whether the new cape was a rogue or a villain.

Most had settled on rogue, which was both fine by me and currently accurate.

But despite that side of my life settling into a comfortable holding pattern, my day-to-day existence seemed to spiral out of control.

Dad had been hinting that he knew I hadn't slept at home that night, and the singed ends of my ponytail hadn't helped. I was seriously considering altering my mask to cover it up at the back, although that was a trade off with the fact I could carry a reasonable quantity of nasty bugs and spiders in my hair.

To make matters worse, he was asking more about school. He seemed to have realised I hadn't been having the best of years, which made for more awkward questions and even more painful lies. But I did not want to talk about school.

The week had started fine enough, as Sophia seemed strangely subdued. She just sat there drumming her fingers on her desk most of class, and even at lunch time her taunts seemed half hearted. The others followed her lead as usual.

I knew it was just the calm before the storm though, like after summer break. Sure enough Sophia appeared to wake up mid-week, and things escalated to the point where I almost lost control of my power on Friday.

It was all I could do to hold the bugs back, to not reveal my greater-than-human strength, pinned up against that locker as she scratched her fingernails down my neck. It was the look in her eyes more than anything, like she wanted to tear out my jugular with her bare hands.

As always she was smart enough not to leave a mark, which I was intensely grateful for. I didn't think I could explain rapidly healing wounds.

I shook my head. Time to forget about that. Today was a good day. The sun was shining, people going about their business, and I was on the road to becoming a hero.

* * *

The rendezvous point was top of a building in the upmarket business district, presumably to minimise the risk of us running into trouble.

Not that there was any risk of us getting blindsided, I had already scattered a decent supply of bugs into the area, and scouted out the surrounding few blocks at street level. The most dangerous thing around was an investment banker.

I have to admit I was really excited as I bounded up the fire escape ten steps at a time.

I crested the roof, and sure enough there was Vista waving an enthusiastic hello with her entire arm. I smiled under my mask.

Then Shadow Stalker stepped out from the shade of the stairwell.

I slowed to a stop. Vista cheerfully ran over and said something in greeting. Shadow Stalker sauntered over behind her, staring off into the distance to one side.

I turned my attention back to Vista. "Sorry, what was that?" I asked.

"I just said it is great to see you again. Stalker wanted to come along, hope you don't mind? I thought we could make it a girl's day out?"

Shadow Stalker asked to come along? A girl's day out _really_ didn't seem to fit her character. The cape in question glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes.

"Whatever," she muttered, kicking a stray stone off the roof. "I was just getting bored sitting around base."

I nodded uncertainly. Vista pulled my head down to her level.

"Stalker never asked to come on patrol with _anyone_ before. I think she likes you," she stage whispered, wide eyed.

Shadow Stalker narrowed her eyes behind her mask. Time to change the subject.

"It's cool, more the merrier right?" I said. "So what is the plan for today?"

* * *

"See?" Vista said, enjoying her ice cream. "This is why you two need half-masks!"

She made a compelling point, or at least I thought so. Shadow Stalker seemed to be pointedly ignoring the conversation.

"So," Vista continued, "what are we supposed to call you anyway? Bug-girl isn't your real cape name is it?"

I snorted. "No, and it is actually taken as well. That's the problem, most insect-related names are already in use or sound really villainous. I haven't decided yet."

"Ooooh! Maybe we should come up with one together?" Vista asked. "What about … Mayfly? That sounds cool, and pretty!"

I shook my head. "Taken. Twice. And I don't really want to tempt fate by naming myself after one of the shortest lived creatures on Earth."

"How about Cricket?"

Shadow Stalker snorted, proving she was listening. I again indicated the negative.

"Can't do, there is an Empire 88 villain here in Brockton with that name. In fact, I am pretty sure you have fought her before?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Vista shrugged. She scrunched up her face in an intense thinking expression.

"OK. So most insect names are used, right?" I nodded. "So maybe it should be more abstract, like my name? Like, a word that just relates to bugs? Like … Creepy, or Flutter, or…"

"Skitter," Shadow Stalker said suddenly. She seemed just as shocked as we were.

That … that was actually pretty good.

"You know what?" I said. "I like it. It suits how I operate, and isn't _too_ evil."

Vista nodded solemnly. "And it is pretty cool sounding too. So awesome! Thanks Stalker."

Said cape grunted and became suddenly interested in the other side of the street.

Vista giggled and ran in front of me, holding her ice cream cone high above her head. She lightly touched it down on each of my shoulders.

"I dub thee Lady Skitter," she said with a wide smile. I returned an exaggerated bow. Shadow Stalker just crossed her arms.

"If you two are done, shouldn't we be looking for trouble?" she asked archly.

Vista pouted. "Yeah, I guess we are on patrol. Maybe we should get back on the rooftops for a better view?"

I sent my senses outwards, feeling the bugs I had in the area.

"Don't worry, there is nothing going on around here," I said. "Just a few business people coming back from lunch on the next street over and some mounted police near the bank…"

Wait. Those horses were a bit big…

Vista and Shadow Stalker both reached for phones that had started beeping simultaneously.

* * *

"Forty one thousand, eight hundred. It looks like that's as much as we're going to get from this vault. The white hats are here, and it's not looking good." Tattletale said from the doorway.

Grue cursed, covering the distance to the window in a few long strides.

"Shit Tattletale. There's five of them out there. There was only meant to be four at most."

"Six," Tattletale replied distractedly. "Someone is on the roof, I don't think it is Shadow Stalker. Maybe one of the Protectorate got home early?"

Brutus loped over, floor groaning beneath his weight. Bitch had done her thing, the Rottweiler had to be pushing two thousand pounds of exposed muscle and bone. The moneybags hanging over each flank made him look like a monstrous zombie packmule, which Regent cheerfully pointed out.

"Fuck it," Bitch said, glaring at Regent. "I can take them, just let me go all out."

Grue shook his head. "No way, we are not risking killing anyone, you want a kill order on us? We need to clean escape, so we need a plan." He turned to Tattletale.

She reviewed the forces arrayed against them. A lot of muscle, especially with Browbeat being inexplicably present. But they were short on battlefield control without Vista, only Kid Win and Aegis could really move at any decent speed. A breakout was doable.

"Yeah, we can do this. Gonna need a distraction though..."

She blinked as a mosquito crossed her visual field, breaking her train of thought. Her head cocked to the side.

She spun around, eyes darting about wildly, passing over the gang, the hostages, even apparently empty corners of the room.

"Fuck!" she screamed. "Why the fuck is _she_ here?"

Regent chuckled. "Jeez," he said, "you'd think Alexandria just dropped by..."

He trailed off as Tattletale started frantically pawing through one of the saddlebags. She retrieved one of the burner mobiles they had with them and began dialling.

"Hey Tattletale, want to explain the problem?" Grue asked gruffly. "And what you think you are doing?"

She spun around, eyes wide behind her domino mask.

"Calling the Wards," she said in a rush. "We _all_ have to get the fuck out of here, _right now_."

Behind them a woman among the hostages started screaming.


	8. Chapter 8

2.4

"Why?" she wailed. "Why can't I hear father?"

Other people flinched away, braving the slavering jaws of the mutant dogs to gain distance from this new _abnormality_.

"Now what's the problem?" Regent moaned theatrically.

Grue glanced across at Tattletale, expecting the usual cocky grin and big reveal. It was _highly_ unsettling that she was just staring at the crying woman, her own chest heaving. It looked like she was hyperventilating.

Her head whipped around to her comrades, lips pale and bloodless.

"Bitch," she growled. "Take her down. Full power."

Grue didn't even have time to process that before it was set in motion. The heavyset dog-trainer barked the order, "Angelica, Kill," and more than a ton of canine crossed the floor in a flash, jaws more like a dinosaur than a dog clamping down across the woman's shoulder. There was a horrific crunching noise accompanied by a spray of fluid across the hostages.

All hell broke loose as everyone started screaming, backing away as fast as their restraints allowed, half-crushing each other in the rush to escape.

Grue rounded on Tattletale, practically shaking with rage. "What the FUCK Lisa? What DID YOU DO?" he roared.

She barely even seemed to register what he said, staring wide eyed over his shoulder at the carnage the dog was still doing. Wet chunks of flesh were spattering over the back of his suit.

"Holy fuck ..." she breathed.

Something in her voice cut through his anger. Grue turned around again, only to witness the impossible. The woman, missing an entire arm and a reasonable chunk of her chest, was _tearing_ into Angelica. Her remaining bare hand was cracking bone, shredding flesh. He had seen big name Brutes do less damage.

The woman screamed incoherently, revealing rows of needle sharp teeth.

Bitch roared back, directing the other dogs to attack. The charged forward like juggernauts, but the woman was so _fast_. She ducked between them, dragging her arm through Brutus' belly. Ropey intestines spilled onto the ground.

Finally it clicked, and Grue recognised her movements as the same as the group who attacked Lung. Which meant...

"Come the fuck on, we have to move," Tattletale shouted. "Bitch, hold her back. Grue, help me cut these people free."

Grue just nodded, realising there was little he could do to help in the fight. Regent stumbled over as well and began splitting the zip-ties around the wrists and ankles of the terrified hostages. Grue looked at him questioningly.

Regent just shook his head, actually looking concerned for the first time in months. "My power can't find anything to work on. If she has a nervous system, it isn't like anything I've felt before."

Tattletale grunted while she worked at the restraints of a young woman. "Not human," she spat. "Something else."

She finally cut her way through the tough plastic. The girl she released flung herself forward, hugging Tattletale who rolled her eyes and tried to push her away.

"Just go you idiot," she said, "the Wards are out the froonnnn..."

Her words trailed off as she fell face first onto the floor. The ex-hostage looked up at the two remaining villains, angry tears in her eyes and an open cellphone in her hand.

"Oh shit," Regent whispered. "That's Amy Dallon."

* * *

"Glad to see you could join us," Kid Win smirked at me, looking down from his hoverboard. "You might just get to see us in action. If that doesn't make you want to join, nothing will!"

Aegis looked over from his conversation with Vista and Shadow Stalker. His demeanor was totally different than the last time we met, all the easy friendliness gone. He looked every bit the professional hero.

"Hi Bug-girl," he began, before being interrupted by Vista informing him of my new name. He nodded to himself. "OK then, Skitter. I'm gonna need you to stay well back, this is Ward business."

I inclined my head in agrrement. I didn't need to get close to help out anyway, my bugs were already swarming over the roof and through the air vents. The faster, smaller fliers had already made their way inside, confirming the presence of about 30 hostages and the Undersiders.

The bigger and more dangerous bugs were holding back, but there was enough of them in the walls and ceiling to get a clear impression of the space involved.

"Do you need any help with reconnaissance?" I asked. "I can tell you where everyone is in there and what they are doing."

Aegis blinked in surprise, before nodding. "Sure..."

I didn't hear the rest of his answer as my attention was diverted to the interior of the bank. Something was happening in there, and all the information my power was giving me didn't paint a pretty picture.

Lots of movement and noise and _liquid_.

A deafening crack pealed out from one of the rooftops opposite the bank, shattering multiple top floor windows in an expanding sonic boom. Something shot past in a blur of white and gold, crashing through the bank door like the thick bulletproof glass was so much paper.

* * *

It was like the world had exploded, heavy glass fragments turned into high velocity projectiles. Thankfully the battle had moved between the door and the crowd, so the bulk of the debris was soaked up by the grotesque overlarge bodies of the dogs.

It was too much for one of them, and it collapsed to its knees amid a pile of gore, flesh sloughing off in waves. The other two didn't look much better. Bitch screamed, looking ready to kill with her bare hands.

Panacea was still glaring at where the two bank-robbers had been moments before the door exploded, the space now inexplicably empty.

"You OK Ames?" came a familiar voice to the side, heavily tinted by anger.

Following the voice to the source, Panacea saw her adoptive sister Victoria grinding the villains into the bank wall, each held aloft by the neck. The one in the skull mask seemed stunned, while the … LARPer?... flailed ineffectually at the immovable object that was Glory Girl.

She looked so out of place in the warzone that the bank had become, the pristine white and gold outfit and perfectly styled blonde hair seemed inappropriate amongst the blood and wreckage strewn about. The rage twisting her features was even more unsettling.

"I'm fine Vicky," Panacea replied. "They just tied us up. No real harm done."

Glory Girl pushed a little bit harder, and even the pirate boy stopped struggling. He was starting to go purple.

"Come on Vic, let them go. They tried to help us escape when _that_ happened," she said, pointing to the melee in the lobby.

Glory Girl craned her neck, taking in the swirling battle on the floor.

"Amy … how the fuck is that woman fighting missing most of her torso?"

At her sisters question, Panacea examined the battle for the first time. Sure enough, the woman who was fighting evenly or better with three mutant dogs had her arm and entire forequarter missing. Amy's first thought was Brute, perhaps with a healing factor, but something didn't seem right.

The wound was barely bleeding, despite a complete lack of visible healing. Again, par for the course for a subset of regenerators, but what blood she could see was definitely _not_ red. Whiteish yellow.

_That_ was unusual because it implied a very different physiology, in which oxygen transport occurred without haemoglobin.

It was also unusual because she had seen it before. In Lung, when the Protectorate had called her in. When she _tried_ to fix him.

She glanced down at Tattletale, mouth open. "Not human," she whispered.

Glory Girl flinched, dropping the two subdued villains to the floor and walking over to her sister.

"Ames, talk to me. You are doing that quiet thing you do when shit's about to hit the fan."

Panacea shook her head. "Hold on, I need to check something. I'm going to wake Tattletale, so get ready to stop her if she tries anything, ok?"

Without waiting for the nod for Glory Girl, she brushed her fingers across Tattletale's temple. Green eyes flashed open, darting around before settling on the girl above her.

"Amy Dallon. Can't believe I didn't notice you earlier," she said with a rueful smile. She tried to raise her head but couldn't lift it by more than a few inches. She slumped back down.

Panacea glared back at her. "I've only restored your motor functions enough to talk, so tell us what you know about that woman."

Tattletale's head flopped to the side, following the outstretched hand.

"How long was I out?" she asked,squeezing her eyes shut.

"Just a few minutes. Now are you going to tell us what is going on?"

The villain barked a short, humourless laugh.

"What's going on? We're all fucked, that's what is going on."

* * *

"We have to go in NOW," Gallant shouted, grabbing the front of Aegis' suit. The Brute brushed him off effortlessly.

"I want to help as much as you to, but Glory Girl made her choice, and she can take care of herself," the leader replied calmly. "We go in there and it could jeopardise the plan, we would be fighting on _their_ terms."

Gallant cast around for support. "Come on everyone, she is in there with four villains, at least one of which has a bodycount."

The team shuffled uncomfortably. "Gallant is right," Clockblocker said. "We can't leave her in there alone. Especially if Skitter is right and there is fighting going on."

I turned my focus to the bank again. "It seems like three of the villains are down," I informed them. "Some woman is still fighting to dogs but I don't _think_ it is Glory Girl. If I am right, Glory Girl is talking to one of the hostages."

"See?" Gallant excalimed. "They are already out! We go in now and we can take them all down."

"I'm all for cracking a few heads," Shadow Stalker added. Even Vista nodded, popping her knuckles.

Aegis said something I missed as I tried to make sense of the swirling melee on the floor of the lobby. There was something familiar about …

Shit. Now that I had noticed it, it became obvious. That same gap in my perception. The fighter inside was like the group that had fought Lung. But why was she here, and why was she alone?

With a sick feeling in my stomach I turned my senses away from the bank and to the surrounding area, only to confirm my rapidly growing fears.

"Uh, team? Wards?" I called out. They paused halfway across the road towards the bank, turning back to me.

I'd like to think my voice was calm.

"We've got incoming."

* * *

AN: Pretty amazed that so many people are reading this. Drop me a line in the reviews so I can know what you think. There is an omake over at the space battles creative writing forums (I have the same username) if you want to read silliness.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Longer chapter here. So much happening! This one was a beast to write and I had to overcome some major issues. Let me know how I did with precious revieeeewws.

2.5

I barely made it three steps before they burst from the surrounding side streets. The Wards were totally flat-footed, but to their credit they immediately formed battle lines.

Which was a _terrible_ idea.

"Run!" I screamed. Not that there was anywhere _to_ run. There must have been at least a dozen of the things, cutting off all the roads around the bank. It wasn't hard to keep track of them now I knew they were there, the gaps in my power-sense stood out like the dark areas on a film negative.

They were gaining on me. I pushed my legs harder.

The road stretched and twisted around me disturbingly, the distance to the Wards shortening to nothing while the gap to the pursuers spooled out. Vista's power, spatial warping. It gave us a few extra seconds.

Aegis pinned me with his steady gaze, every bit the team leader expecting a report.

"These things killed Lung," I gasped, and his eyes widened enough to show the whites. He nodded to Browbeat and the two Brutes stepped forward, interposing themselves between their team and the closest enemies.

"Back into the bank," he shouted. "Form a defensive line."

A clawed hand erupted from his neck, blood spattering across us as the first of the enemies reached our line. I felt my lunch lurching, but Aegis just calmly reached up and grabbed the offending limb, trapping it inside his body.

Huh. That's _different_.

Browbeat danced his unnaturally muscular body past Aegis. The haymaker he threw, backed up by at least 500 pounds of muscle, was frankly terrifying. All the more so with the blast of energy that erupted as he made contact, sounding like thunder. It had to be some kind of point blank telekinesis.

The would-be murderer never even saw it coming, blasted clean across the street and into an oncoming ally. They both went down in a heap.

Aegis pulled the now disembodied limb from his neck with a wet sucking noise.

"Weapons free," he rasped, somehow speaking despite the gaping hole where his voicebox should be, "they aren't holding back."

Wasn't that an understatement?

I glanced around, noting the rest of the Wards in the staged retreat. Those who could were firing into the approaching enemies as they back-pedalled, energy blasts, laser beams and shadowy crossbow bolts flashing through the air. Vista was twisting space, which allowed the ranged attackers to fall back at near running pace despite taking the time to line up their shots.

Aegis and Browbeat covered the retreat, often repeating the same tactic where Aegis used his unnatural resilience to tie down their fast-moving opponents while Browbeat blindsided them with his crushing blows.

Clockblocker was setting up defensive walls, pulling large sheets of see-through plastic from pockets on his suit and freezing them solid as they unfurled. If ParahumansOnline was accurate, those barriers would be completely impenetrable until his power wore off. His placement of them seemed designed to funnel the attackers into a central bottleneck without reducing visibility for the defenders.

In other words, they were impressive. A slick, well-drilled unit.

Their skill only served to highlight the strength of the attackers.

Bodies smoking from energy blasts, clothes and flesh charred by lasers, they rushed on unperturbed. Even the fighters Browbeat smashed were slowly rising to their feet, including the original attacker missing both an arm and most of the left side of its face.

My power gave me a good understanding of the battlefield, bugs on each combatant at key points on their limbs and joints augmented by my ability to perceive the enemies directly. It was clear we couldn't hold them for long.

Our flanks seemed to be the weakest points. Vista was working overtime to keep Gallant and Clockblocker safe on the right, synergising with the later by distorting space so the attackers kept charging full speed into plastic sheets that must have felt like concrete. Gallant's energy blasts barely slowed them down. Without Vista, they would already be overrun.

Shadow Stalker was holding the left flank with Kid Win, but neither the laser beams of his Tinker guns nor the crossbow bolts that sprouted from their attackers seemed to slow them down much. More importantly Kid Win could stay out of reach of the melee attackers on his hoverboard, but Shadow Stalker had no such luck.

I took off at a sprint, matching the onrushing attackers for ground speed, but they were closer to the Wards than I was. The first one to reach them swung a combo of vicious blows at Shadow Stalker, who dissolved into smoke, the fists passing through her harmlessly. She drifted back out of arms reach before rematerialising and loosing a quarrel point blank range through the eye of her attacker, which collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Another was about to catch her as I finally reached them. I was moving too fast to stop easily so I just tackled it and we both crashed to the ground. It struck me several times on the way down, but this one didn't seem to have claws and my armour was holding. Still hurt like hell, it hit like a truck.

I was vaguely aware of a third one leaping at Shadow Stalker again, who seemed content to act as the distraction while Kid Win peppered it with lasers from above.

I refocused on my own problems as my ribs creaked under a hard blow, I really couldn't afford to let this thing get any more leverage. Exerting my strength I grabbed its wrists and forced it over, pinning it under my body. It wasn't _easy_ as such, but it definitely felt like wrestling with someone several years my junior.

Superstrength was pretty damn cool.

Unable to punch me it did the next most obvious thing. It opened its mouth, which was full of razor sharp fangs and just happened to be right next to my neck. I seriously doubted spidersilk was going to hold up against that.

I did the only thing I could. I arched backwards away from it and directed the bugs I kept in my hair to give it the Armsmaster special. They dropped down across my arms or on dangling lines of silk, swarming into its eyes, nose and mouth.

I tried to ignore the very human expression of fear on its face as I directed the bugs to sting and bite. These weren't the nice bugs.

It thrashed and bucked but I didn't give any ground. Human-looking or not, this thing tried to _kill_ my ... whatever Shadow Stalker was. An ally?

In desperation it opened its mouth again and surged at me. I tightened my aching abdominal muscles and met it halfway, the heavy armoured plate on my forehead shattering nose and teeth. The back of its head hit the ground with a sickening thud and it stopped struggling.

I paused for breath as I stood, more than a little disorientated. A streak of something ran across the lens covering my left eye.

Extending my sense I found very little time had passed, and very little had changed. Vista was still keeping the two boys alive, Aegis and Browbeat were still playing meat shield and pinch-hitter with a veritable _horde_ of enemies, and near me ... well, the last thing over this side looked worse for wear. It couldn't land a blow on Shadow Stalker who danced around it like smoke, quite literally, while Kid Win continued to pour laser beams onto it. Smoke rose from blackened areas of charred flesh.

Evidently at that very moment the thing lost patience with the game of no-sell tag it was playing with Shadow Stalker and crouched to the pavement.

_Fuck_. I started running forward as it leapt. Clearly whatever mutation this one had involved its legs, because it soared twenty feet into the air and slashed out at Kid Win on his hoverboard, catching him in the leg. He fell heavily to the ground amidst a spray of blood.

I didn't know if it was bad luck on our part or if the thing was just that good, but it landed softly next to him while we were still a dozen yards away. Hands flashed down again and again, tearing through even the reinforced tinker armour like paper.

Something flared up inside me. These were _my_ allies, and _they_ were trying to take them away. I bunched my legs under me and _pushed_.

I felt the asphalt give marginally under my feet and then the sudden rush of acceleration as I leapt towards the creature, covering the distance in the blink of an eye. My mind was focused on that single thought, that they were trying to _steal_ from me. Just like Sophia. Just like the car accident.

I swung my clawed hand as I blurred past, all that anger and frustration pouring into my limbs. I felt my hand connect and something give underneath, and then I landed. I was hard up against the front wall of the bank, which was covered in something grey and pink and wet.

_Huh_. When did that happen?

"Holy fucking christ..." I heard Shadow Stalker whisper behind me. I turned to see her staring at me, wide eyed. She seemed to be having trouble standing.

Then Vista screamed. We both spun around to to see her running forward _into_ the battle.

Why ... _shit_. Gallant was down.

One of the creatures was standing over him, his silver suit staining crimson.

The few bugs I had in the area could still feel him breathing, but the rapidly expanding pool of blood underneath him was not a good sign.

Browbeat leapt forward, dust exploding out from under his feet, that invisible force propelling him even faster than before. He collided with the thing bodily, the both of them going down in a jumble of limbs.

Aegis reached Gallant at the same time as Vista. She dropped to her knees, vainly trying to put pressure on her team-mates wounds. Gallant mumbled something so softly I couldn't hear it.

Aegis picked up Gallant at the same time I remembered Kid Win. He didn't look good, his calf was a mess and he had several big rents in his armour that were pooling with blood. I had done some basic first aid courses, but this was well outside what I could handle.

"Get them in the bank" Clockblocker called out. "Panacea is in there."

Right. Obviously.

* * *

"Stand down," Grue yelled at Bitch. Her dogs were growling like thunder, hackles up at the one who had taken their prey. Glory Girl stood casually above the unmoving form of their enemy.

Bitch grimaced, but whistled low. The canines padded over to her side, licking their many gruesome wounds, mostly tearing them open further with misshapen tongues like rasps.

Bitch dropped down next to the unmoving third dog and pulled a knife from her belt. Before anyone could do anything she sawed into the turgid flesh, and with a gush of discoloured water pulled a normal sized dog free. It looked intact and happy, albeit covered in foul goop. It was even wagging its tail.

Panacea glared at Tattletale, who was rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck.

"I let you up, but don't think I won't put you straight back down if I think you are trying to pull something," she promised.

Tattletale just winked at her. "Don't worry Pan-Pan, your secrets are safe with me. My lips are sealed."

Any reply Panacea was about to make was cut short as the Wards burst into the bank.

Tattletale cursed. Loudly.

* * *

In other circumstances the calm manner in which the Wards were preparing the building for a defense could have seemed callous, considering Browbeat didn't make it inside.

I had never even spoken to him, but the guy put his own body on the line for his teammate and paid the price. That counted for something.

Gallant and Kid Win had reached the healer extraordinaire in time and were now good as new. Watching her work was incredible, more than any other power I had seen the way the flesh moved and knitted together felt like magic. It was surreal, one second near death, and then straight back into the fray.

It seemed that Aegis was ok by default, but even he got patched up before he moved to organise the team. I watched in amazement as they converted the bank into a fortress. A makeshift barricade was placed in front of the open doorway in the form of a heavy table, lifted in place by Aegis and made indestructible by Clockblocker. The windows received the same treatment, with small gaps left in those that could open to be used as defensive firing positions.

Nothing was getting in, at least not easily.

While their position was being fortified a revitalised Kid Win was, well... _materialising_ weapons. A number of futuristic handguns and rifles formed a small pile, glowing various bright colours. Lasers, he had explained.

His pièce de résistance was still shimmering into existence; a number of parts missing but the gun was at least a dozen feet long and had to be mounted on his hoverboard for stability.

I glanced out the window. They were still out there, trying to find a way in. We had cut their numbers down but it had come at a heavy cost. Deciding to do what I could to help with the defense, I started gathering my swarms.

A hand fell on my shoulder. "Stop, damn it," came a frustrated feminine voice from behind me.

I turned to see the blonde villain in lavender bodysuit and domino mask, her lips pressed together in a thin line. _Tattletale_.

My confusion must have been obvious because she frowned and crossed her arms across her chest.

"You really don't know?" she asked. "Shit, that is going to make this harder."

She draped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me over to an unoccupied corner. I wasn't happy with a known villain acting so familiarly but I wasn't going to make a scene either. Several of the Wards glanced over, but they didn't seem too concerned.

"What is this about?" I asked, a little more forcefully than I intended. "I have work to do."

"That's just it," she replied. "Your _work_ is doing more harm than good."

I shook her off my shoulders roughly, causing several heroes to take a step towards us. Glory Girl in particular looked like she was itching to start something. I waved them off.

"You better start making sense or this conversation is over," I warned her.

"Yeah, I know. Thing is, I don't really know how to say this."

I shrugged. "Seems like your problem then."

I stalked off towards the Wards and started drawing on my swarms again, ready to check the upper floors for any potential weak points.

"Fuck," I heard her mutter behind me as I felt something hard push against my exposed hair at the back of my head, accompanied by an ominous click. "I didn't want to do it this way," she muttered. "Remember that."

* * *

The fact that the heroes and villains had all dropped what they were doing was enough confirmation for me that I now had a gun pointed at the back of my head. I raised my hands in the air, something of a pointless gesture all things considered.

"Everyone stay where they are," Tattletale called out. "I've got some stuff to talk to Bug-girl about, and we don't have time to have a nice chat."

Aegis stepped forward, but stopped as Tattletale wrapped her arm around my neck and ground the barrel of the gun into my skull.

"Think about what you are doing Tattletale," he said calmly. "This may not be an S-class threat, but the treaty is in play. You are crossing a line here."

Tattletale laughed mirthlessly. "See, that's where you are wrong Aegis. This is S-class. _Very_ fucking S-class."

You could have heard a pin drop. The soft sounds of movement carried through the improvised bank door as the things outside quietly tested our barricades.

Aegis drew himself up to imposing full height, all the more threatening with the ragged holes in his costume.

"Explain. Right. Now." he ground out.

I heard and felt Tattletale sigh behind me. "OK," she began, "I know none of you want to listen to me right now, especially Bug-girl here, so I will preface this with two pieces of information. One, the Undersiders have never broken the unwritten laws, so put whatever value on that you want. Secondly ... I am a Thinker. I _know_ things."

"Tattletale..." Grue warned.

She shook her head. "As much as I would have loved to keep my power a secret, they need to know or they wont believe me."

Aegis ground his teeth. "Fine. We heard all that. Now put the gun down and we can talk."

"Nah, I think I should keep the gun for now. Don't want anyone getting ideas about dropping a swarm of wasps on me, and I think I've made Bug-girl mad."

"Skitter," I growled through clenched teeth. "My name is Skitter."

Tattletale seemed to pause behind me. "Huh. Well, ok then _Skitter_. Just don't do anything to get us all killed."

What? How would I ...

"Come on Skitter," she sighed. I could practically hear her eyes rolling. "You don't really think it is a coincidence that those things have only ever attacked twice and you were there both times, do you?"

But so was ...

"Yeah, the Undersiders were there too, but the attacks only happened when you started moving your bugs around, right? _Exactly_ when you moved your bugs."

But ...

"And that is what happened here too, right? That woman only flipped out after I started seeing bugs around, I bet you had the building covered in them, right?"

But I wouldn't ...

"Sure. I don't think you are doing it intentionally either. That was my first thought, when those things attacked Lung. I thought you were controlling them, maybe subconsciously, maybe not. But today that woman was here in the bank before you even knew it was being robbed. So you couldn't be directing them. I think they just happen to be around, and you flick their switches."

How ...

"You've seen them move right? The coordination, the synchronisation?"

... like a ...

"Like a swarm, exactly. Like a group mind. Like you and your bugs."

Can you just stop ...

"And that's why you can feel them. You can, can't you? Because they're like you. They communicate like you do, but different enough that you mess them up when you have too many bugs around, like a shadow in the way of their link. And I think _they fucking hate that_."

... answering questions I haven't even asked yet? Holy shit, she was annoying.

Glory Girl snorted. "Good story but I'm calling bullshit. You couldn't possibly know all that, even if you are a Thinker."

I shook my head. Deep down, I _knew_ Tattletale was right.

But that would mean Gallant, Kid Win Lung, all the ABB gangers.

Browbeat ...

They got hurt or killed ... because of me. Because I wanted to be a hero.

I looked up at the others. There was a mix of doubt, fear and shock on the faces I could see. Vista was just staring at Gallant, she wouldn't even look at me. My shoulder slumped.

Tattletale put the gun away. She knew I wasn't going to do anything now.

Aegis stepped forward placing himself between us, although I wasn't sure who he thought he would need to protect. He flashed me a indecipherable look before turning back to the villain.

"Even if we believed all of that, it doesn't help us much now. What do you suggest we do with the information?"

Seemed pretty obvious, when you thought about it. They came here for me, after all.

"Nothing," Tattletale said, fixing me with a steady gaze. "As long as she doesn't use her powers things shouldn't get too much worse."

"_Worse_?" Kid Win interjected, incredulous. "We have these zombie monster borganisms that took down Lung attacking us, how much worse can it get?"

Regent chuckled. "That's the problem with you Tinkers, too concerned about your guns to have a sense of scale."

"Says the skinny pirate carrying around a golden scepter?" Clockblocker volleyed back.

"I'm not the one with the 15 foot cannon, or the delightful moniker" Regent drawled. "But to get back on topic, these things didn't beat Lung. These are just the babies."

Everyone turned back towards me. I nodded.

"They were the ... minions, I guess. Lung smashed them. The other thing that beat him isn't here."

"What?" Clockblocker shouted. "Those things that we just barely got away from, that _killed_ Browbeat ... you are not fucking telling us that they aren't even the real monsters."

I was about to reply when something _big_ crossed the edge of my awareness. I must have flinched because Tattletale started cursing, violently.

An ear-splitting scream sounded from the street, stark contrast to the near-silence that had reigned outside until now.

Aegis leapt into action, scooping a laser rifle up from the floor. "Get working Wards, while Clockblocker's defenses are still holding," he shouted. "Glory Girl, see if you can get the civilians out of here. We will have to go all out if those things break in."

Glory Girl nodded, moving to talk with Clockblocker about how to ferry out the hostages.

Hesitantly I grabbed onto Aegis' arm to catch his attention. Tattletale paused in her tirade of profanity briefly, before launching into an even more impassioned stream of invective. I was pretty sure she was close to beating her head against the wall.

Good. Fuck her.

Aegis looked somewhat bemused at her antics before he turned his attention back to me. I tried to convince myself his blank expression was simply well-drilled professionalism. I failed.

I really didn't feel comfortable here, with all of them, after what Tattletale had revealed, but I sure as hell wasn't going to make it worse by keeping them in the dark.

"Aegis, that thing that beat Lung ..." I said, waiting for his slow nod, "well, there's three of them."


	10. Chapter 10

AN: This is still the penultimate chapter to this arc, the number of words was running away with me again. Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for the reviews so far. They keep me going at a decent pace. More reviews definitely equals more gribblies vs parahumans.

**2.6**

Aegis narrowed his eyes. "Skitter, if she was telling the truth ..."

Shit. I was really starting to hate Tattletale, even if it wasn't her fault. I would have done the same thing in her position, but that didn't mean I felt any better being made the outsider again, every move judged and criticised.

I shook my head vehemently. "I'm not using my bug powers, I promise. Tattletale was right, I can feel them. It's passive, kinda like they are bugs that I can't control."

I was surprised how much that rankled now that I thought about it, not being able to control something I could sense with my power. Probably said something about my personal history, about the lack of control I had over my own life all too often. About how many of the things I valued got _stolen _away.

Aegis nodded slowly and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks for telling me, talking about this can't be easy," he said with surprising sincerity. "I know we are going to need to have a talk when we get out of here, but until then we could use a brute with a steady trigger finger."

If my face hadn't been completely hidden Clockblocker definitely would have made a joke about catching flies. It seemed I had yet to find the limit of Aegis' tolerance. Or maybe he was just being honest and couldn't afford to turn down an extra fighter in the situation. Either way I snapped a salute, grinning under my mask.

The screeching outside redoubled with the sounds of claws scrabbling on the reinforced concrete walls of the bank. If we had been in any other commercial building, and not one designed to withstand assault by supervillains, they probably would have come straight through the walls.

As it was, the noises served to remind everyone about the time-limit on Clockblocker's power. The incredibly _variable _time-limit, somewhere between 30 seconds and ten minutes of time-locked invulnerability. So far the door had been up for somewhere between five and six minutes, which left anywhere between zero and five minutes to evacuate. The plastic barriers outside had all fallen to the street.

The fliers were going to take the lead on evacuation via the roof, with the exception of Kid Win who couldn't use his hoverboard with the cannon on top of it. Unfortunately the plan also meant toughest capes were sidelined for the duration.

It also meant we would lose the services of Panacea, as Glory Girl straight up refused to carry anyone if she couldn't take her sister to safety first. They had flown out the second that decision was made.

So it came down to a fortified position, a few guns and a serious lack of high end strength. We had to hold out until the hostages were gone and we could fall back, or until backup arrived.

"Radios and phones still out?" Aegis asked Kid Win, who nodded in confirmation.

Tattletale made an odd noise in the back of her throat. At our questioning looks she shrugged. "It just doesn't make sense. They didn't cause a radio blackout last time, so why would they this time? I need more information."

"We can worry about their powers later," Aegis stated. "The PRT are going to notice that we dropped off the map. The Protectorate are busy though, so we can't bank on the cavalry arriving anytime soon." He turned back towards Tattletale. "At this stage we are on our own, so we need to understand what we are up against."

Tattletale grimaced. "OK, but you aren't going to like it. What I said before, about this being S-class? I'm pretty sure that's true." She noted the doubtful expressions around her, and folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, I know it doesn't seem like it now, but think about what we know. They are a group of mutant brutes operating like a group mind. They are single-minded fanatics too, even dismemberment isn't enough to put them down. Finally, the one in here started talking about her _Father_, capitalisation intended, when Skitter shut down the link."

Aegis folded his arms across his chest. "So you are talking about a cult, maybe one with a cape who can give Brute powers? Bad news, but we have dealt with that before. Teacher springs to mind."

Tattletale nodded. "Yeah, a Cult would be a good way to describe them. But here is the thing, the one in the bank looked totally human, even to my power. She was just there to do her _banking_, blending in. She couldn't know it was about to get robbed."

Everyone looked at her blankly. Blending in hardly seemed like a threat against what was prowling around outside right now.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea what the odds are that a cult member _happened _to be in the Bank, the exact same time Skitter _happened _to come by? Or how they had someone near enough to Lung in the middle of the night to notice her doing her swarmy thing?"

"Bullshit!" Kid Win interrupted. "You can't possibly be saying ..."

The rest of us exchanged blank glances as he trailed off. "Uh, maybe you two geniuses could fill in the rest of us?" Clockblocker suggested. "What does a coincidence or two have to do with anything?"

Kid Win shook his head in disgust. "She is _trying _to claim that it would be statistically impossible for a _small _group to be in both places by chance."

But that would just mean that ...

"So either they had a reason to be in two unrelated places," Kid Win continued, "or there are enough of them that you would be just as likely to find them _anywhere_."

Oh. Fuck.

Tattletale nodded grimly. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think Brockton Bay just became ground zero for Nilbog number two."

* * *

Nilbog. The kind of name that parents wouldn't even use to frighten their children. The reason Ellisburg had been wiped clear off the map, yet still had a military budget equal to the GDP of a small state.

Aegis took a deep breath, muscles flickering along his jaw as it clenched. "Kid, what do you think?"

The Tinker shook his head. "I don't know ... I haven't seen enough to ..." He paused, gaze flickering around the bank. He let out a big sigh. "Yeah," he admitted, "it's possible."

Considering the topic of discussion we all practically jumped out of our skin as the barricade at the door hit the floor with a crash. Aegis and Clockblocker were prepared and slapped it back into place in seconds. In those seconds the monsters outside had converged on the door so fast my mind could barely keep up with them. If any of them had been a yard or two closer...

"Looks like we're out of time," Aegis said. "So nothing has changed, we stick to the plan. Secondary objective is to make sure we get this information out to the PRT, so stay alive." He turned to Tattletale. "So, any bright ideas? Can we kill these things?"

Tattletale frowned. "I don't know ... maybe? My power is telling me that their speed and strength might be hiding a lower level of toughness, but I am working with limited data here."

"Better than nothing," he grunted. "Form teams at each window, shooters and crowd control, Kid Win will hand out the guns. Clockblocker, you're in charge until I'm finished with the hostage evac."

Clockblocker nodded, serious for once. "I'll be floating to refreeze the windows when my power wears off. Each non-shooter grab a chunk of glass and keep scratching your window with it. Call out when you make a mark."

The group started dividing up to cover the three windows. Bitch and her dogs just wandered off, obviously not planning to take part. Whatever.

I turned to Vista, but she pointedly ignored me and walked over to Gallant.

I felt like I should be used to it by now, but it still hurt. Everyone was forming teams, leaving me out again, like waiting for a game of pick-up soccer as the other kids all got chosen ...

"You coming?" asked a voice behind me.

I turned to see Shadow Stalker looking blankly at me. It took me a second to realise she was talking to me. Some part of me felt intensely grateful to her right then. I nodded wordlessly.

A poorly-smothered giggle caused us both to spin around. Tattletale straightened up and grinned at us, wide. The word "predatory" sprung to mind.

"Sorry," she said, totally unapologetic. "So, is this a private girls club, or can anyone join?"

Silence stretched out. Of all the people here, including her own team-mates, and she want to work with me? After what she did?

"Whatever," Shadow Stalker muttered, turning away and ... _stalking _towards the nearest window.

"Why?" I asked, still trying to process.

If anything, her grin widened. Predatory became downright vulpine. People shouldn't be able to show that many teeth.

"Oh, but you two just seem like _so much fun_!" she enthused. "Besides, you will need someone to check the window while you shoot at them, right?"

It was true, and certainly no-one else was coming over to help. I felt like my awareness of the enemies' positions would be useful, and I couldn't see Shadow Stalker sitting this out to scratch some glass. We really did need the extra set of hands. Damn Aegis and his shining example of acceptance.

I nodded reluctantly.

* * *

"So where the hell are they?" Shadow Stalker growled.

It was true that after our first volley of shots the Cultists had virtually disappeared from the street, with almost no real damage done. I could still feel them though.

"There is one behind that car," I pointed. "Halfway down the rear passenger side door, crouching. Head is about at the level of the door handle."

Shadow Stalker fired. The bolt dissolved into smoke, passing straight through the car. She could rephase her projectiles at any point in their flight, she had told me. If they reformed inside something they _fused _with it on a molecular level. Scary, especially now she was aiming for the brain.

The thing dropped to the ground and started thrashing.

"You got it, pretty bad I think."

She nodded with satisfaction. The third member of our team chuckled softly, apparently finding something amusing.

_skritch_

Argghh, that noise was really putting my teeth on edge. I glanced at Tattletale, who smiled back lazily, dragging the chunk of the bank door across the frozen window.

_skritch_

"Well, isn't this _nice_?" she asked. "You two _really _work well together, don't you?"

_skritch_

I could hear Shadow Stalker gritting her teeth. I had to consciously relax my own hands lest they destroy the fragile Tinker laser I was holding. As it was the plastic casing creaked dangerously.

"Where's the next one?" Shadow Stalker hissed. I couldn't help but notice Tattletale _studying _us as I directed the Ward to another of the Cultists. The bolt flew true, but didn't take it down. My directions were just too low-res, I couldn't even really tell body parts apart. I was pretty much just making wild guesses based on a general shape.

Shadow Stalker clicked her tongue in frustration. "Hey," she said suddenly, turning to Tattletale. "Those super-monsters are already here, right? So why can't Skitter just swamp 'em with bugs like she did before? We could probably just walk away while they zoned out."

Tattletale stopped grinning, and shook her head. "A few reasons. First of all, we don't know how many of those things exist. We could draw even more here if we did that. Second, it will ruin our visibility. And third, I don't think it will work again."

"Why not?"

"The one in the bank didn't just stop when the bugs cut her off, she flipped out. I think this Cult leader is too clever to leave that sort of weakness exposed. They have probably been updated with new instructions for if the connection gets cut again."

Shadow Stalker scowled through her eye-holes. "You _think_? _Probably_? You don't sound so sure."

Tattletale nodded. "Yeah, I'm guessing," she admitted. "But my guesses are normally pretty good. I think the bugs should be a last resort."

I noticed a flicker of movement as one of the Cultists broke from cover. My purple laser flashed out, joining the other monochromatic lights spraying ineffectually around the speedy enemy.

There was a low _thump _that rattled through my bones as the ground across the street erupted. As the dust cleared all that was left of the thing was a deep hole in the ground and a carbonised shadow on the building opposite.

"Yeehah!" Kid Win shouted, the muzzle of his cannon glowing hotly against his window sill.

"Damn!" Regent shouted, whistling appreciatively. "Why do you get that big gun while we make do with these little flashlights?"

I shook my head at their antics, tuning out whatever Kid Win said in response. The surviving enemies seemed to be bunkering down, and the bigger things were just sitting there, waiting.

_skreeeeech_

Tattletale paused, looking from the glass in her hand to the newly scratched window bemusedly.

Shit.

"CLOCKBLOCKER, GET OVER HERE!" I yelled. _They _were moving, fast.

Laser beams arced across the street as the screeching monstrosities burst from cover, covering the ground in great leaps. Straight towards us.

These things were definitely not like the others, there was nothing human about them. Bulbous heads, heavily armoured organic looking exoskeletons, rending claws and razorsharp teeth rounded out the alien appearance. Oh, and four limbs.

Unlike the Cultists, these things all looked identical, even down to the colouration: deep blue and fleshy pink. Exactly the same as the monster I saw the first night with Lung. That did _not _reassure me about our chances if one of them got in the bank.

They avoided the majority of our fire, zigzagging at outrageous speed as they advanced. If it wasn't for Vista they would have reached us in seconds, but thankfully she was here. Space streamed out between our defensive position and the attackers, the street widening like a bad movie effect.

I scored a few hits aided by my sense of their position, but I had to agree with Regent. Despite the high quality tinkertech, these guns were practically useless against them. Beams that could scorch concrete splashed harmlessly off their chiinous armour without even slowing them down.

The closest one _leapt _just as Kid Win fired his cannon again, and it rode the way of force as the street vaporised behind it. Time seemed to slow as it arced through the air, and I could easily track the trajectory it was following. It would come down right on the window.

The few bugs I still had secreted on my allies confirmed one thing. Clockblocker would not arrive in time.

Even at this distance I could make out its malevolent red eyes glaring at us. At _me_. Those eyes met mine and I felt a strangely familiar pressure.

The bank receded, noise muffled. My world became those eyes, and the rage within them transcended the gulf that separated humanity from_it_. The will behind those eyes pushed against me, trying to _steal _from me.

Something flared within me, and the fury was returned with interest. My body, others. They were _MINE_.

Liquid flared through my forearms, rippling as I stepped forward, placing myself between _it _and _mine_. They were swept behind me without effort and I crouched low, ready as it reached the apex of its arc and began to descend towards us. My claws flexed, _itched_, ached in anticipation.

For a moment, it flinched.

Then the window shrunk to a letterbox, as did the front wall of the building. In my minds eye I saw space warp further, the distance between the thing and the building shortened to nothing. Still at the peak of the parabola, it struck the distorted facade at the third floor rather than the first. Then the building snapped back into place, and it was dozens of feet above us, still outside.

_tap_

A grey-gloved hand rested on the window pane. I followed my gaze from that hand to my own, still pulsing with my blood and heavy. Slowly the feeling receded.

The moment was broken and sound rushed in. A sigh of relief, another of disappointment. A muttered thanks to a teammate who saved all of us. I felt all of that and more. I smiled along with the rest as we felt relief. Clockblocker laughed weakly.

With a tinkle of chimes the glass from a third floor window splashed onto the street.


	11. Chapter 11

**2.7**

The stairs were at the back of the bank lobby, to the side of the service counter. Literally as far from the windows as anything could be and still be on the same floor. Defending both sides was going to be hell.

The few remaining hostages scrambled towards us. The sounds of movement came progressively closer, and Kid Win's cannon started to whine as it built up a charge.

It took me a moment to realise what was wrong. The monster was still on the third floor, barely having moved from the window. In fact, one of the bugs I planted earlier was coming closer, fast. I relaxed my finger away from the trigger and was about to signal the others when Glory Girl burst out of the stairwell.

_thump_

...

...

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Glory Girl screamed as she extracted herself from the pile of debris that had been the tellers' counter and two small consulting offices. Kid Win had the good grace to look apologetic, smoke curling lazily from the muzzle of his weapon.

At least no harm was done, Glory Girl was uninjured if a little disheveled. Her costume was covered in dust and her normally perfect hair was in disarray. In fact, her hair seemed frozen upright, like she had stuck a fork in the wall socket.

To my side Shadow Stalker snorted. Then Clockblocker sniggered. Then Gallant burst out laughing and it was like a dam broke and all the built up tension was released. It seemed so inappropriate considering the situation but even I couldn't help smiling. The only people who didn't join in were Bitch and Tattletale, the former just looked confused while the later was staring intently at the young hero from New Wave.

Well, Glory Girl didn't laugh either. She stomped over to the Wards and started berating them, which only caused Clockblocker and Kid Win to collapse further into hysterical laughter.

There was a cough from the stairs. Aegis was standing there, arms crossed. He cocked an eyebrow. "Glad I didn't beat you back here," he said to Glory Girl.

* * *

The mood became serious again when they heard the bank was compromised. It was like a shutter had fallen over their faces, all the warmth just disappeared in a moment.

"What are they doing?" Aegis asked me. No need to clarify who _they_ was.

"The one upstairs is just wandering around, searching maybe? The outside ones are moving now, kinda to the sides of the building. I think they are staying out of sight."

Tattletale grimaced. "The one inside is waiting for them to climb up and get in through that window. We won't be able to stop them. They will attack together."

Aegis grunted an acknowledgment and turned to Glory Girl. "So I assume the lack of extra heroes on hand means New Wave weren't at home?"

Glory Girl scowled. "Nope, and mum wasn't at work. And all the phones were out. Amy is trying to find them."

He nodded. "I got five blocks away before I gave up on getting the radios to work. I had to leave the civilians with messages to pass on to the PRT, couldn't afford to waste any more time. I'm really not happy that the PRT might be walking into this blind."

"They can handle themselves," Gallant said. "The Protocol for a widescale comms blackout is a full tactical response."

"Unless they think the comms blackout is caused by something else," Tattletale muttered. "It still doesn't feel right."

"Either way, we have our own problems now," Aegis returned. "If the roof exit is cut off, then we're trapped. Holding out for backup is our only option."

"So we just block the stairs, right?" Gallant asked. Tattletale shook her head. "Too far between barriers for Clockblocker to maintain them all, and I seriously doubt the internal walls here are going to stop those things anyway. We need something else."

"Kill em," Bitch grunted. She must have been applying her power because her dogs were starting to swell again. Bony spikes burst through flesh like a stop-motion horror movie. To be honest, it was so bizarre to watch that it wasn't even that gross.

"We _do_ have a lot of heavy hitters here," Gallant mused. "Those mutant dogs are monsters, and Aegis and Glory Girl are back..."

"_Really_ bad idea," Tattletale said, cutting him off. "We were having trouble with just the smaller ones before, these things are an order of magnitude worse. Remember that one of these things took down Lung, and so far none of us have managed to hurt them. We don't even know for sure that we _can_ take them down."

Glory Girl rolled her eyes. "I don't get why we are listening to a _villain_. Lung was tough, but if his fire didn't mess with my breathing I could have taken him myself. My force field is invulnerable."

Tattletale smirked at her. "Except for the _brief periods_ when it isn't, right _Victoria_?" Her face hardened. "These things are fast. You do _not_ want to be overconfident here."

The golden girl's eyes widened briefly before her face twisted in anger. She took a threatening step forward. "I don't know what you think you know ... but you better shut the hell up, right now."

Fuck. We couldn't afford to fight now. I stepped in between them. "This isn't helping," I said, more to Tattletale than Glory Girl. The villain seemed to live to push buttons, even in a crisis. Apparently getting involved was a mistake though.

Glory Girl rounded on me, eyes blazing. "And who the fuck do you think _you_ are?" she spat at me. "It's your fault we are all in this mess."

Fear washed over me. Part of that was probably the aura the Glory Girl put out (and hell yes, it was terrifying), but mostly it was her words. That sick feeling that had been hiding in my stomach, that everything that was happening was because of _me_. That just by being here I had caused it all. If I had never tried to be a hero in the first place ...

"Shut up," Vista yelled. I turned in surprise, it was the first thing I had heard her say since we made it inside the bank.

Since _most_ of us made it inside the bank.

Vista was glaring up at Glory Girl, hands balled into fists. With the aura still distorting things it felt like watching an ant stare down an elephant.

"Don't you _dare_ blame her," she shouted. "Skitter didn't know anything, and she saved Kid and Stalker out there. She was ready to protect them in here too, after _you_ left. The only one who is making things worse is you."

My thought process ground to a halt. Even Glory Girl looked a bit shocked at Vista's outburst.

"I'd have to agree, Skitter isn't to blame here" stated Aegis. "Now end this, we can't afford any distractions right now."

Glory Girl glowered at me and Tattletale but mumbled some sort of agreement, and the villain did the same. I could only nod mutely. Vista was defending _me_? I thought ...

"Skitter, we need an update," Aegis said.

Right. Focus. I reached out. "They are moving outside ... shit. They've started climbing. They are gonna be inside in a few seconds. Five of them I think, with another of the big ones. At least a few more are still waiting outside with the other monster."

"Making sure we don't escape out the front door. So that will be six upstairs?" Aegis asked, pausing until I nodded in confirmation. "Well, I doubt I can do much against that many, and we have already seen how they deal with Hellhound's dogs. Glory Girl ... I'm not going to ask anything about your power, but I need to know. Can you do anything against those numbers?"

She gritted her teeth, eyeing Tattletale. Muscles worked rhythmically in her jaw. "I probably can't stop them and keep everyone here safe at the same time," she admitted finally.

Aegis just nodded. "OK, so we need a new plan. Tattletale, you're the thinker here, any plans?"

Glory Girl growled, but Tattletale ignored her, looking around the lobby.

"How long until we get reinforcements?" she asked Aegis.

"No way to know, but protocol is for a response team to mobilise if radio contact is lost for more than five minutes on a mission like this. Probably ten minutes minimum to get here."

"Capes or PRT?"

"Protocol calls for PRT but since there were known villains involved ..." he trailed off, looking awkwardly at the Undersiders. "Well, with villains they would probably send in the heavy hitters. Depends how far away they are though, we were sent here today because the Protectorate was on a mission somewhere else."

Tattletale clucked her tongue. "So ten minutes minimum, and can't be sure the back-up will be useful? Well, we can't hold the lobby then. We need to find somewhere more defensible."

"What about the vault?" Grue suggested, walking over from the rest of the Undersiders. "It has countermeasures against parahumans."

Aegis chuckled. "I am going to pretend you know that for a legitimate reason. Tattletale?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, maybe. The schematics said it was rated up to Brute 3, so it could stop them. Clockblocker might be able to freeze most of the front too. And the walls in the basement are cut into the limestone, so it won't be easy to get around behind us. Can't think of anything better."

"Fine then, the vault it is," Aegis agreed. "Civilians down first, Skitter and Tattletale stay close to me for co-ordination. The rest of you do what you can to defend the rear."

We had just started moving when an ear-splitting scream rattled through the bank. Everyone turned to me.

"They're coming."

* * *

Everyone ran for the stairs to the basement, which unfortunately opened into the same stairwell as those from the upper floors. We were running towards the enemy, and they had a head start.

"They're too fast," I hissed at Tattletale. "They are gonna get here before we hit the stairs."

She cursed under her breath, then shot me a meaningful look. "Last resort then."

Fuck. "Are you sure?" I asked. "What if..."

"Out of options," she said.

I drew on everything I had in the bank. Most of the bugs had stayed roughly where I had left them after I stopped actively controlling them, and it seemed my power had been passively drawing more and more from the surrounding area. There were a lot of them. They flooded from the walls and dark corners, cutting off the Cultists halfway across level three.

"It ... it's working. They're slowing down ..." I said as the bugs swamped them. Sensory data spilled into my mind, claws and tails and a sense of wrongness that seemed to vary amongst the enemies. The two big ones were the worst by a large margin.

A chorus of screams echoed down the stairwell. One of the hostages stumbled at the inhuman noise.

"Shit, they're moving again," I said.

Tattletale nodded as she ran. "Communicating verbally with the link down. New redundancies. Do whatever you can to stop em."

I sent out the signal, and the bugs that could get a grip on the fast moving enemies started biting and stinging any open flesh. Two of the smaller Cultists dropped to the ground screaming, which gave me the opening to bury them under a tide of flying and crawling chaos.

I had never intentionally hurt anyone before, especially not with my power. Armsmaster didn't count, I had been trying to save him. But here, I knew exactly what each attack would do. Some of these bugs were _nasty_.

I directed them to the eyes, nose, mouth. To the groin. I felt flesh give under the assault and the bugs losing traction as their footholds became _slick_. I couldn't help but shudder.

The other things were still moving but slowed in the face of the attack. There wasn't much open flesh on the bigger ones, but at the very least I could force them to shut their mouths which stopped the screams.

"Two down," I whispered. Aegis looked surprised but nodded in acknowledgement.

The first of the civilians made it to the stairs and started descending. "Vault is at the bottom, three flights," Tattletale shouted. She turned to me. "ETA?"

"They rest are moving slower, I think the bugs are bothering them. We have a bit of time." I paused. Where were

...

Damn it.

"One of them just tore through the floor. They're out of my swarm."

"Smart. _Learning_," she said, slightly breathless from the sprint. She shouted to the rest of the team ahead of us. "Stay away from the walls everyone. They're in the vents."

* * *

The lights flickered and went out. Of course. There was still enough light filtering down from the lobby to see at the top, but the lower end of the stairwell trailed into darkness.

Muffled moans and sobs from the civilians echoes strangely up the narrow stairs. Vista and Gallant were trying to comfort them, I think. They were at the other end of the crowd but the bugs I left on them were still there. Now that I didn't have to hold back I surreptitiously added a few more insects to each member of the team, restoring my overall view of the retreat.

The dark was surprisingly easy for me to deal with, with my insects mapping out every surface. Yet another use of my power that seemed more versatile by the day.

It was the _other_ darkness that was the problem. The blank spots were descending in parallel with us through the crawlspaces and wall voids, and moving far faster than should have been possible. Intervening air conditioning tubing, electrical wiring, even strutwork was demolished like it wasn't there. They must have damaged enough of the wires for the lights to short out.

"Keep going," Aegis yelled out. He glanced at me. "How we doing Skitter?"

I shook my head. "Too fast, coming on both sides."

He nodded, lips thin. "Just make sure we get some warning."

The first of the capes and all the civilians reached the lowest floor, Grue leading the way towards the vault with the rest trailing behind. At least I thought it was the vault, I couldn't imagine any other part of the bank needing such heavy doors. My bugs could feel the hum of electricity through the metal, clearly the vault itself had an off the grid power supply for ... something.

Tattletale, Aegis and myself made up the rearguard, Glory Girl just ahead.

The middle of the pack was bookended by Bitch's/Hellhound's dogs, which were now about the size of ponies. They could get a lot bigger, I knew, but they had to fit down the stairs and presumably into the vault. The rest of the Undersiders and Wards were interspersed among the canines.

Halfway across the basement Gallant went down. I couldn't make out what had happened, but at least there were no enemies nearby. Vista and Kid Win were already helping him up.

We were just turning the down the last flight of stairs when they caught us.

"Aegis, there's a big one coming through there," I cried out, pointing to his right. He flinched to the side just as the wall shattered and scything talons passed through the space his head had been occupying. He grabbed Tattletale and leapt the remaining stairs to the basement floor.

Which left me by myself on the stairwell.

I followed Aegis' example and vaulted the banister, dropping the remaining 10 or so feet to the ground. Glory Girl was next to me at the foot of the stairs, staring glassily up at the thing that was advancing towards us.

She glanced back into the basement, in the gloom I could just make out the last of the Wards as they tried to lift up their immobile teammate. It didn't take a genius to realise that there was no way they would all make it into the vault before they got over-run, not at the speed these things moved.

_I_ could probably make it though, I realised. I only needed to outpace the slowest of them.

An image flashed across my mind, Vista screaming at one of the strongest heroes in Brockton Bay in my defense. I shook my head. It was the same as that first night with Lung, I couldn't back down.

I heard Glory Girl mutter something beside me and then she disappeared. One second she was thereand the next instant the space beside me _crashed_ in the wake of her passage, blurring my vision and setting my ears ringing.

I hadn't expected that, to be honest. She hadn't been on the best terms with the rest of us upstairs, but she still threw herself into the fight without a second thought. I couldn't let her face them alone.

I shook my head to clear the aftershocks of the sonic boom. Finally my eyes found her, crouched low in the mangled wreck of the stairway. The creature was beneath her, and behind her, and above her. It had literally been torn in half.

The arms on each forequarter flopped to the ground. There was _only one arm_ on each side.

If I'd known she was going to charge in like that I would have warned her.

They were _clever_, to use the lesser one as bait.

She looked back over her shoulder at me with a smirk and seemed about to say something when the big one erupted from the hole in the wall. I saw her eyes widen in shock as it slammed into her, and then they both crashed through the handrail into the dark hollow under the stairs.

And then she screamed.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger. The chapter was going to finish the arc, but it got too long, I think it is already the longest yet and they are obviously still in a lot of trouble.

Thanks for the reviews. Something is definitely going on with Skitter, but what? :)


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Last chapter of the arc. Buckle up!

**2.8**

I could barely think as the anger rose up in me, fire rippling into my chest and down my arms. As I shot forward into the darkness all I could see was her smirk as she looked back towards me, as if she was saying "and _that_ is how a hero does it."

A blinding red blast arced past my shoulder, splashing off chitin with a dull thud. It even caused the thing to flinch back. _Gallant_, I thought. Stupid, but courageous. No wonder she didn't hesitate.

The light of the attack revealed my target. The monster was hunkered over its prey and even in the monochromatic glare I could see the short gasps that wracked her as she struggled to breathe. Its maw yawned open, wide enough that it must have unhinged its jaw, and a ropy tongue extended. It was as thick as my wrist and as long as my forearm, poised above her ruined throat.

_THIEF_

My legs burned and I _pushed_, as my feet came down my toes gouged trenches in the cement. The acceleration was almost painful, fueled by a fury so intense that I could barely believe it was my own. I watched as the barbed tip descended, reaching for her. I could see the minute play of muscles in the appendage as the world receded around me, leaving only my anger and the

_STEALER_

I felt my gauntlets stretch and swell, feeling too tight by far. The spider-silk began to give under the pressure, and then released completely.

I swung my talons in a glittering arc towards the

_DEFILER_

and it _shattered_, broke apart like a flimsy figurine. I ploughed on through, my forehead coming to rest against the basement wall. It was cool to touch, even through my mask, like being in a cave. The sound of blood pounding in my ears slowly retreated, the fire in my limbs cooled.

There was a weak cough behind me. Who ... _Glory_ _Girl_. Victoria Dallon.

I spun around, withdrawing my arms from the crumbling cement and limestone in the same motion, and I saw her. Tears stung my eyes, my breath caught in my throat. She was _broken_.

As I bent down and gathered her in my arms I mumbled something intended to be reassuring, I don't think it was even words. She flinched and tried to speak, or maybe just moan. I couldn't tell from the sound she made.

She seemed so small and frail.

"Oh _god_."

Gallant had caught up with me. Aegis too, his arms wrapped around the younger Ward, support and restraint at the same time. For some reason the junior cape was in a basic undersuit, his gifted Tinker armour gone. He looked younger too, without that.

Aegis must have seen me looking. "Gallant's armour froze up, total shutdown. Had to cut him out of it." He glanced back over his shoulder towards the others, speaking softly. "Come on, Tattletale has got the vault open, let's get her inside."

* * *

It was a study in character flaws, watching them all. Kid Win was freaking out, Clockblocker was trying to lighten the mood, Gallant wanted to punch him and Aegis was trying to talk them all down.

Vista was hunched over in the corner, as far as possible from Glory Girl as she could get while still being in the vault. I didn't blame her, it wasn't pretty.

Grue and Tattletale were arguing about something, and getting pretty heated. Bitch was ignoring everything, idly scratching her dogs.

Shadow Stalker was off to one side, an equal distance from almost everyone. Perhaps slightly closer to me. She was acting like she wasn't worried by all of it, but the bugs I had on her felt the way she flinched every time her gaze strayed across Victoria. And me, for some reason.

The few remaining civilians were bunched together. They were not coping well.

The Dramatic one, the Inappropriate one, the Emotional one, the Reasonable one, the Traumatised one, the Self-Absorbed ones, the Disconnected one, the Trying-To-Be-Aloof one and the NPCs. The cliches were all here.

So what did that make me then? I felt adrift, set apart from them all.

I studied my hands, turning them back and forth to examine the exposed skin. _Something_ had happened, but they looked no different than any other day. I couldn't even remember what it was I had felt, just flashes of an all-consuming anger that felt out of place. Alien.

The Monstrous one, maybe?

What was wrong with me, and what could I do to stop it killing them?

Not that Victoria was dead. Clockblocker could keep her alive for as long as she had a single heartbeat left. Longer, really. Panacea could work with that. With any luck, she wouldn't even have to experience the passage of time between now and then, wouldn't have to think those terrifying thoughts I had seen in her eyes as I carried her.

They were still out there, waiting. The others had come in from the street, now that they knew we weren't going to double back and escape. There was so many of them.

But the vault was holding. My bugs had felt it as the doors closed, the low thrum of power. Tattletale had said that it was Tinker built to withstand mid level Brutes, and where steel failed the forcefield generator should succeed. The power supply was buried inside the vault, some esoteric secret of physics generating enough energy to run for years.

The secondary vault upstairs that the Undersiders had robbed was like a toybox in comparison, but it only held the mundane daily money. This was the vault for the _valuable_ stuff.

It sounded like that was what Grue and Tattletale were arguing about, she wanted to explore the treasure trove of secrets the vault offered. He thought it wasn't the time, and he had my vote. Seriously, Tattletale?

As if she could hear me she disengaged from the conversation and wandered over. Just what I needed. I idly noted Shadow Stalker glaring at her as she walked.

For the first time since I met her, Tattletale didn't immediately launch into a speech. She sat down against my wall, even a respectful distance from me. It counted for something. We sat there for a few minutes as the rest of the vault-dwellers settled in for the wait, muffled scraping noises and screeches marking the movements of our captors.

Tattletale had been wrong about something, which made me more happy than it should. The solid walls didn't stop them. They had burrowed clear around the vault, looking for a weakness. Thankfully they hadn't found one.

"You aren't like them," she said gently, breaking my train of thought. It was probably the first time I had heard her speak where she didn't sound like a cat who just found the cream. Shadow Stalker snorted.

I dropped my head between my knees. _If I wasn't, then what was that anger..._

"Our powers change us all, like ..." she trailed off. I looked up and saw her smiling, an honest smile for once. "Sorry, I was doing it again, answering you before you asked. A good example of what I mean." She gestured around at the other capes. "We get amplified when we trigger, or something. Whatever emotion fits our powers best. They call it conceptual reinforcement at the Universities."

I looked around the vault, reviewing my earlier thoughts.

"So yeah," she continued, voice low. "Aegis tries to soak up everyone else's hurt, Clockblocker disrupts the status quo, Vista needs to pull everyone close and push everyone away at the same time."

I glanced at the tiny girl, isolated from everyone. Vista...

"And me? I always loved being smarter than everyone. It became a compulsion." She looked right into my eyes, like she was trying to express something with more than words. She broke her gaze, face downcast. "Sorry, for everything up there," she muttered.

That ... that was unexpected.

She laughed lightly, breaking the mood. "So don't beat yourself up, ok? Whatever is going on in your head, we all feel it. Maybe we can't be like we were before, but we can deal, you know?"

I nodded slowly.

She relaxed back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "You know, it would have been so much nicer to do this earlier, over coffee maybe. There's something about a bank robbery and alien invasion that brings out my bad side."

I smirked a little, at that. "Mine too, I guess." I took a deep breath, and exhaled. What a day, if we were understating things. I turned to her. "So what was the plan with the Villain Seeking Bug-Girl thing? Were you looking for a recruit?"

She cocked her head to the side, chewing her lip thoughtfully. After a moment she nodded. "Yeah, something like that, but you've probably earned a better explanation. It wasn't the only motivation."

Well now she had my full attention.

"We _did_ want you, for sure. That kind of power, along with the battlefield control you had? We probably would have cakewalked through this bank with you on board." She glanced across at Grue, who was talking quietly with Regent on the other side of the vault. "But there's more too, we have ... an employer, I guess. Another cape. And he was _very_ interested in you. He wanted you brought into the fold, and any information we could get."

Huh. I guess I had caught more attention than I had realised.

She shook her head. "More than you think. He was always totally hands off with the team, left that up to me and Grue. Him making you a _job_? It was unprecedented." Now she trailed off, looking down at her feet. "I couldn't work it out. He is _ambitious_ to say the least, I thought maybe whatever it was between you and the Cultists was what got his attention. Maybe he thought they were too destabilising and wanted an edge against them, maybe he wanted their firepower. That was the information I mentioned. I was going to warn you."

My eyebrows rose under my mask. "About him? Isn't he your boss?"

She nodded. "Yeah, he is. But that doesn't mean we agree on everything."

Well, wasn't this weird? Despite everything, I found myself relaxing more talking to her than I had to anyone recently, barring maybe Vista.

Shadow Stalker suddenly paced forward, arms crossed. "So when the hell is backup getting here?" she growled. "Shouldn't they have turned up by now?" I caught a few nods around the bunker.

I stretched out my awareness among the bugs out on the street. It was totally deserted, no-one for at least a block. I couldn't reach quite as far now, maybe because we were underground? "Nothing up there yet," I said as I picked myself up off the floor. I caught a small flinch from Tattletale, and turned back towards her. "What is it?"

She was chewing her lip again. "Could be nothing," she said.

Aegis walked over. "And it could be something. What have you got?"

She grimaced again. "Fine, but as long as you all know this is only a maybe, alright?" He gave a short nod. "Well, it was like I said upstairs, they didn't stop the radios last time, it doesn't really fit their powers. It is possible that they are two separate things, and the blackout is caused by something else. You said yourself it was widespread."

"How sure are you?" Aegis asked, voice tense. Why...

"Maybe fifty percent, give or take," she replied. The leader of the Wards _flinched_ at that.

Clockblocker moaned out loud. "You are doing it again. Explain it to us, what does it matter who caused the blackout?"

Aegis turned back to them. "If this isn't the cause of the blackout, and the whole city is down, then they wouldn't even know we're in trouble."

It was at that exact moment that the colourful lights of Kid Win's laser guns flickered and died.

* * *

"Clockblocker," Tattletale said, voice tight. "Freeze the walls, right now."

Everyone spun to face her. She looked as afraid as I had ever seen. "Huh? What do you mean?" Clockblocker asked.

Kid Win pushed him in the shoulder, still looking at the weapons in shock. "She means _freeze the fucking walls_!" he yelled. It seemed to get Clockblocker moving. He had touched two of the walls when there was a sudden reduction in noise, a lull. Even without enhanced hearing the rest of them seemed to notice, and paused.

It took me a second to realise that it was that background hum that had disappeared, the vibration my bugs felt had stilled.

FUCK. "Forcefield just went down" I said, my voice cracking.

"Shit," Kid Win shouted. "Get the door man!"

Clockblocker spun and charged at the vault door, just as _they_ started moving. Vista bent the space, although it seemed weaker than her usual efforts. He still had to run a few feet.

He was running_ the wrong way_.

His hand hit the vault door, the soft sound accompanied by the _scream_ of tearing metal. From the other wall. They had got around behind us.

I was already moving, racing towards Clockblocker as the vault erupted in chaos. The backup lights flickered and died, leaving us in near-total darkness. The civilians started screaming, everyone scrambled away from the walls. Layered over it all was the cacophonous noise of steel coming apart.

Guided by my bugs I reached down and grabbed Clockblocker by the wrist. I could move a lot quicker than he could.

He started struggling, trying to resist me. Why... shit. He didn't know who or _what_ had grabbed him, which meant ...

I flung him as hard as I could towards the wall they were attacking just as I felt his other hand brush my wrist.

* * *

Actinic light assaulted my eyes, barely acclimatized to the dark, and I squeezed them shut. What the hell just happened?

"She's awake," someone said.

I looked around. There were a bunch of flares lined up along the wall ...

which had long gashes running through it, massive tears half a foot wide and over a metre long. Behind the ruined steel, something out there was _moving_.

There was a weak moan behind me. I spun, looking for Glory Girl but she was just where she had been, still frozen. There wasn't any more blood there either.

Everyone else was gathered just inside the other corner, huddled around someone.

I looked back along the wall. There hadn't been anyone there except ...

I leapt forward, barreling through the others. Scared them, if the half-heard shouts and screams were anything to go by. It was really the last thing on my mind.

On the floor, costume slashed open, surrounded by blood...

_Vista_.

* * *

She coughed, a thin trail of blood marring her cheek.

"Hey Skitter," she said weakly with a small grin. "Wondering when you would snap out of it."

Clockblocker said something next to me. Apologising, maybe. I just shook my head and knelt down, my hand finding hers.

She coughed again. More blood, must have got her lungs.

"So hard to tell what you are thinking, you know?" she whispered. My reply came out as a strangled choking noise, my throat didn't seem to want to work.

"Hey, don't drown in there. Another benefit of a visor," she said with a smirk. "And don't worry about me, Clockie can keep me safe."

I nodded, knowing it was a lie.

Four walls, two capes on the brink of death. Something would give, and when it did...

No fucking way.

I stood up. _They_ were still there, prowling. Testing the sides and the rear. They had even started burrowing under the floor of the vault, but if the tactile senses of my bugs were right Clockblocker had frozen that too.

I buried them. Filled their holes and tunnels with bugs, packed them tight. Maybe it would slow them down, maybe it wouldn't. I didn't need long.

The vault door unfroze just as I reached it, textured metal to the feet of my insects instead of impossibly smooth glass. I smiled. Finally something was going my way.

I didn't even turn around, I just yanked on the handle.

"They came here for me," I said.


	13. Chapter 13

The previously posted chapter has been redacted following reader feedback.

I tried a few new things with the narrative structure as an experiment (this is my first fanfiction) and ended up confusing everyone.

Sorry to those who _did_ enjoy the chapter, but I can safely say the writing experiment failed. Hopefully you enjoy the replacement just as much.

The chapter will be re-written before the next arc begins.

Thanks to all who took the time to alert me to the issues, it should help make the story stronger.

Rumble


	14. Chapter 14

**TW**: discussion of suicide. The views expressed by characters in the chapter are not the views of the author.

Warning: this chapter is freaking huge. Start reading at your own risk.

**Tyrant 2.9**

The vault swung shut in total silence. It really felt like it should have made a loud, apocalyptic, life-ending noise. Fucking tinker tech.

So, I was outside the vault. I'd made my choice, as much as there was a choice to make. More like I had taken the only path available if I wanted to be at peace with the decision. That peace was small comfort in the face of a growing ... not regret per se, but close. Maybe restlessness? I guess the hero thing wasn't quite working out, heroes made their self-sacrificing decisions and never looked back.

Although I did have first hand evidence that real life heroes weren't everything the stories made them out to be. Maybe _making_ the decision at all was all that counted, and selfish second thoughts were par for the course?

I pulled hard on the outer handle as someone tried to open the vault from the inside. Probably Gallant, trying to live up to his name. Again. It was going to get him killed one day.

Aegis would have to restrain him soon, always reliable to make the tough decision, and then Clockblocker...

The handle froze and I sighed in relief. Not much point to all of this if I got caught while I was still in the basement, holding the vault closed to stop the misguided heroism of people who were almost my friends. Would have been nice, they seemed like good people, even the weird ones.

I shook my head to clear out the unnecessary thoughts. Lead the enemy away, that was the aim of the game. Nothing else mattered.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?" growled a familiar voice next to me. I spun around to see Shadow Stalker practically vibrating with anger. Damn it, I hadn't expected her to work it out faster than Clockblocker. The Ward stepped closer. "Is she right? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Ah. So that's how she pieced it together so quick. Tattletale fucked me again.

I pushed past her, striding towards the stairs. "I'm leading them away, buying time for everyone. They'll chase me."

She grabbed my shoulder roughly. "They'll _fucking kill you_. Is that how you want to go down, suicide by monster? I honestly didn't peg you as a _coward_."

A coward? I was going to make the ultimate sacrifice, and she calls me a coward?

I rounded on her, my own anger rising. "What the fuck do you want from me?" I yelled back. "Should I just let them die? Let _Vista_ die?"

She shoved me, hard. "Fuck you. Don't you _dare_ blame her for your shit." She chased me as I stumbled, staying right up in my face. "I bet it was the same when you were going after Lung, wasn't it. You just expected to get killed? How the hell did you get this fucked up, to want to go down without a fight?"

I snorted, probably a bad move considering how pissed she was, but I couldn't help it. "Seriously, that's your problem here? You want me to _fight_? This isn't some movie where the weird girl locks her friends behind a door and kills all the monsters. This is reality, and in reality _I control bugs_. "Suicide by monster" is the best I can do."

She staggered to a stop in front of me, eyes wide. "Are you fucking nuts? You killed three of those things already!"

I blinked in surprise. I did _what_?

The world tilted as the memories flooded into me. The sound as I crushed a cultist's head between my mask and the street. The _feeling_ as I swung my claws through the skull of another. Soft pulpy flesh dripping down a wall.

I dry heaved, hunching over as my diaphragm spasmed wildly. How the hell did I _forget_ all of that?

"I ... I guess I did," I gasped, reaching for the edge of my mask. I needed air. "It's not the same ... I wasn't thinking. I got lucky."

Shadow Stalker grabbed my hair from behind and lifted my head.

"You call _that_ luck?"

She was pointing at the dark corner under the stairs. Human blood stained what was left of the wall, but what really captured my attention was the sheer destruction around it. I tasted bile rising up the back of my throat, and I remembered. Being consumed with rage. My gloves splitting, my hands _changing_. Destroying that creature so utterly that what was left was unrecognisable.

Driving my arms shoulder deep into solid rock.

"I'm a monster," I whispered.

She yanked my hair, arching my neck backwards and twisting my head around to face her. Our eyes locked, our masks almost touching. "Join the fucking club."

* * *

I stared blankly as she evaporated into smoke, my mind in turmoil. More images assailed me; Shadow Stalker wide-eyed on the street. The Wards casting sidelong glances in the bank. Vista refusing to look at me.

They hadn't been concerned or even suspicious. They had been _terrified_.

I had killed these things, brutally, and then walked away like nothing had happened. No wonder they were scared. I could count the number of capes who acted like that on one hand, and they certainly weren't heroes.

Something inside me noted that the first cultist had escaped the tunnels. That something _responded_, pulsing with malevolence. It cried out to take these things that were _not mine_ and devour them.

And in that moment of contradictory feelings, self-loathing and terrible hunger, I realised that the other something _wasn't me_. It wasn't separate either, not truly. It contained part of me, and I held part of it.

The first enemy cleared the tunnel mouth and launched itself forward.

I could feel that other part inside me reaching out, and I could see where it touched me. Where I touched it.

The monster leapt, soaring across the basement.

I cordoned it off, building a barrier around the alien element. It shuddered and strained against the bonds but to my surprise I was stronger. Much stronger.

I could see it clearly, now that I knew how to look. It was something else, something related to my powers, and it had insinuated itself into me. It had changed me, made me into something my dad wouldn't recognise. Something I didn't want to be.

The claws reached for me.

My world exploded into noise as the cultist _screamed_. Not a cry of victory, but pain, terror. My eyes snapped open.

Shadow Stalker stood over the thing, holding the legs of a hard-backed chair. The body of the chair was _inside_ the creature, I could see the transition where the wood jutting through its forehead seamlessly melded into flesh. It thrashed weakly and then stilled. "You still having a fucking crisis?" she asked with a grin in her voice.

She sounded _excited_.

I instinctively backed away from the wrongness of the scene. From her.

But other images crashed against me. Browbeat and Aegis crushing their enemies together, methodical and disciplined. Kid Win vapourising one and whooping with joy. Glory Girl tearing another apart and smirking.

I hadn't thought they were wrong then, when I had been caught up in it and altered by this thing inside me. But now? I still wouldn't criticise them. Their motivations seemed inconsequential compared to the stakes involved. They did what was needed to survive, and felt what they needed to so they could be ok with it.

And I had killed …

to save them. I saw Kid Win falling from the sky, claws striking against him. I saw the shock in Glory Girl's eyes as she tumbled into the dark, and the terror in her thoughts when I picked her up.

I saw Vista smiling weakly, blood staining her teeth.

And the _something_ inside me pulsed in anger. Not so alien, that feeling.

"You finished freaking out? I could use some help here."

I looked up in surprise. Shadow Stalker was reaching for me, holding out her hand. Behind her the real monsters were pouring from the tunnels.

_OK._ I nodded. As I took her hand, I reached inside myself and made my own offer.

I grinned and _pushed_, swinging my arm up as hard as I could without hurting her. She had a brief moment to widen her eyes in surprise before she dissolved into smoke and disappeared through the ceiling.

* * *

I burst out into the sunlight, the metal vents and ducts glaring. My feet crunched across the gravely surface of the rooftop.

Shadow Stalker stood at the far edge, hand on hip. "That was _not_ fucking funny…" she started, trailing off as the top of the stairway behind me _exploded_. The monsters poured through the wreckage, harried by a gigantic swarm of bugs that reached upwards and spread out like a giant hand, blackening the city skyline. They crashed down across our enemies like a tidal wave, and I felt several of them stumble or fall.

The majority of the bugs sunk back into the stairwell, blocking off that route of entry into the building.

My foot struck the edge of the roof as I passed Shadow Stalker, who was turning to follow me.

"I don't know," I said. "I thought it was hilarious."

I _pushed_, reaching past my defensive wall and my passenger responded. The ground flashed by beneath me, four stories below, and then I was onto the next building and running again.

The rhythm of running had always soothed me, left my head free to think and plan. The feeling of freedom I had now only heightened that experience; I could run_anywhere_. It was exhilarating.

The train of death that was following at our heels barely dampened the rush.

Despite my current level of augmentation Shadow Stalker easily kept pace beside me. I idly wondered if she ran competitively, her stride looked practiced. Her use of her power certainly was, as she flickered into reality as her feet struck the roof and then dephased to bound forward, decoupling from the forces that kept normal people stuck on the ground.

She even managed to twist in the air and loose bolts from her crossbow at the apex of each arc, which was pretty damn awesome to watch. Like a deadly shadowy ballerina or something. Our pursuers had wisened up quickly though, and were managing to evade most of the projectiles. None had fallen yet, but she had slowed a couple of them down.

I didn't doubt that Shadow Stalker could get away, and I could probably outrun them for a while by myself, even with my current self-imposed limitations, but that didn't change the fact we were charging through the business district, which meant civilians.

The blackout had caused chaos, the streets littered with cars that lost control and crashed into buildings or each other, shopfronts smashed open by opportunistic thieves. It seemed like the majority of people were off the streets, probably a result of our melee and firefight in front of the bank as much as the civilian damage, but some brave or foolhardy folks were still loitering nearby.

Even looters didn't deserve what would happen if they got caught up in the carnage following us. We needed a plan other than "run until the heroes arrive". Whatever we did had to keep them occupied and away from the public.

I ran through the short mental checklist. Resources we had available: myself, Shadow Stalker and a literal metric fuck-ton of bugs. Something about being trapped underground in a small metal box had boosted my power to new heights, and it seemed like I had been doing that "subconsciously attracting bugs" thing for most of the time we were down there.

Every street for several blocks was nearly blanketed in the things, and the air was thick with flying insects. It was all I could do to keep them away from the people still out on the street, and I could only imagine what they thought of the orderly rivers of cockroaches and spiders marching in formation.

Unfortunately the small insects couldn't keep up with us and were quickly left behind. I would need to be smart if I wanted to bring them back into active play. Thankfully the massive volume of creepy crawlies passively granted me an amazingly high-res awareness of the surrounding area, which revealed several possibilities.

"Keep running," I yelled out, hoping Shadow Stalker would hear me over the sound of the wind whipping past, and then I veered to the side and dove off the building. Not the best time to test my durability from four floors up, but I didn't really have time to take the stairs. I was pretty sure I would be fine.

As I had hoped the majority of the pursuers followed me over the edge, a few stragglers chasing Shadow Stalker. She could handle them, her powerset was pretty much hax against Brutes.

It was time to test a theory.

* * *

My pursuers were literally snapping at my heels as I raced through the streets, the closest threats being the two big monsters and the few cultists who seemed to have leg-oriented mutations. The few bugs that had wedged themselves deep enough into their joints to hang on at the speed we were travelling gave me _just_ enough warning to avoid their attacks.

It was amazing how easily I was able to multi-task, managing at least four separate problems at once, controlling what had to be _millions_ of insects by now. If I opened my awareness up I could even experience sensory input from all of them simultaneously, which seemed impossible. Something to do with my powers I guess, some minor Thinker attribute?

I ducked to the side at the last second as six inch claws ripped through the air above my head. _That_ was a bit close for comfort, maybe a little more focus here wouldn't hurt.

I was almost all ready anyway, and as we reached the intersection I had been aiming for I initiated phase one. The hordes of flying insects I had piled up in the perpendicular alleyways streamed across the street in front of us, completely obscuring the road behind them. _Perfect_.

They parted as I entered the cloud. It was dense and taller than I could see past, but not more than ten feet deep. Inside the cloud I dropped low, feeling my fingers toughen as they dragged through the tarmac, spinning my body in a controlled slide. As my feet found traction I _pushed_ and leapt smoothly through a coincidentally-inside-the-swarm adjacent shop window. I scrambled to a halt behind the shop counter as the first of the cultists burst past the veil of insects and into the empty street.

I tried to slow my breathing, counting each cycle in my head.

_One_...

The rest of the monsters joined their vanguard on the street, none the worse for wear. That was ok, I hadn't expected the bugs to be able to hurt the dozen that remained. Natural selection I suppose, those that I could take down with bugs were already incapacitated.

They fanned out, searching. Behind them the wall of bugs retreated back into the alleyway.

_Two_...

One of the smaller ones was right out the front of my hidey-hole, but seemed hesitant to enter. Several others were loitering just outside the nearby buildings. Very_specific_ nearby buildings.

_Three_...

I dispersed the swarms. Bugs streamed off the rooftops in every direction from several of the shops, causing my pursuers to jump backwards to avoid them. About half of the nearby buildings had been bug free, and I knew it wasn't a coincidence that they had ignored those stores.

As the roof above me cleared the monsters all spun towards me. _Fuck_.

I kind of wished I had been wrong about this.

I scrambled away as the nearest cultist smashed through the counter, screeching in rage. It leapt after me and I hardened my resolve. This was to survive and to protect.

I reached past the barrier I had set up inside me and connected to the other, feeling the rage and hunger taking hold in me. I held it back with force of will, I only needed _enough_.

The fire rippled down my arms. As I turned to face my enemy I saw a nearly-human expression of surprise and then I attacked, my blows easily outpacing the desperate swings of my opponent. My fingers tore through fabric, flesh and bone. It was probably just denial at work, but I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to listen. I don't think I was quite ready to watch.

I opened my eyes again as the last piece fell with a wet thud.

The rest of them were bounding towards me, thinking I was trapped, but there was a reason I chose this shop. Before I could be over-run I crashed through the rear exit and out into my swarm.

* * *

Shadow Stalker had comfortably outpaced her enemies, able to cut corners by dephasing through the worn brickwork.

_GO LEFT HERE_

She didn't like being told what to do, especially orders relayed by bugs messily spelling out messages on walls with their bodies, but she would be the first to admit that she was more of a fighter than a tactician.

Leaping to the left she spun and launched another bolt into her remaining pursuers, catching one in the forearm. It didn't slow it down. She clicked her tongue in frustration, her bolts just couldn't do enough damage.

_I GOT ONE. TAKE NEXT RIGHT_

She smirked and ran on.

* * *

The cultists held back, easing out of the store to circle around and block the exits to the alleyway. They wouldn't risk entering such an obvious trap, not after I had just taken one of them down with ease. Better to wait me out and pounce when the opportunity came.

At least, that is what I hoped they were thinking.

If everything I thought I knew about them was right, this _should_ work. I crossed my my fingers.

The bugs spilled out of both ends of the laneway, but instead of an unformed wave of insects they were condensed into vaguely humanoid shapes. They lurched forward, wading onto the streets. The cultists sprinting around the corners pounced, splashing through the flimsy decoys. They were so much _faster_ than the swarms, and they ripped them apart disturbingly quickly.

I had expected that. My few attempts at making these clones while I had been planning this had quickly revealed they weren't going to set any land speed records, not if I wanted them to be believable as decoys. All those flyers so close together played havoc with air pressure on the small scale.

Thankfully my plan didn't need them to be fast. Each decoy that was cut down broke apart, the constituent bugs flying and scuttling to rejoin a nearby intact clone. When a living clone had gathered enough bugs from the dead, it budded, splitting into two again.

I didn't need to outrun them, or to outfight them. I just needed to have more clones reforming than they could break apart. They were after me, and they couldn't afford to let even one decoy go for fear I was inside.

If I could win this war of attrition, then I could force them to split up.

And I _was_ winning.

My fingers slowly uncrossed. I was right; they could _see_ me and my bugs, much like I could see them. They could find me behind walls, but my bugs blocked their view enough that they couldn't be sure I wasn't hidden inside a ramshackle pile of insects.

Which I was. I was hot, loud and claustrophobic. If I didn't need the mobility there was no way I would have considered it.

So yep, that was my plan. A human shell game, grand scale misdirection with my life on the line.

* * *

I had a running theory that whoever was controlling these things didn't have my talent for multitasking. It seemed like they were on longer leashes than my bugs were, their movement was less controlled. My bugs were automata, these things snapped and growled and moved like animals. It was more like Bitch's dogs, like they got orders but not step-by-step directions.

Which was definitely exploitable. If they had to focus to micromanage one set of monsters at a time they couldn't see the wider battle. I could use that.

Divide and conquer. Common parlance among the self-help books from the "fight back" school of dealing with bullies, it was pretty much the only military tactic I had ever heard of. It was perfect here. One on one I knew I could take any of them except maybe the big monsters, even with restraining myself.

If they attacked together I would be overwhelmed. I knew that at a fundamental level, so I couldn't let it happen.

The bug decoys began lumbering into new alleyways, leading the enemies further afield. It seemed like about a half dozen decoys could occupy one of the smaller cultists indefinitely although the big ones needed at least twice that many. I divided the bugs up into units of ten, staggering them so the individual cultists couldn't reach too many too quickly.

While the central CBD was wide boulevards and orderly crossroads, the surrounding area was a warren of little lanes and sidestreets. From my hazy memory of civics class Brockton Bay was an … organic city. It had been a minor port in the early days, overshadowed by the larger east coast cities and off the main railway lines. It had still grown steadily but central planning had been conspicuously absent for most of the formative years.

What that meant was that anyone who couldn't view the area as a whole, or multitask enough to get a general's eye view, was going to have a lot of trouble seeing the big picture. I was counting on that fact.

The wild goose chase was not without risk. I was vulnerable. If this was a shell game, every cup they flipped over could be the one hiding the pea.

I thinned the bugs over my eyes and examined the cultist that was following my personal decoys. It was the first time I had been able to see one at close range for any length of time.

It really was bestial, I think it had previously been male but its face was so twisted and misshapen it was hard to tell, with heavy hairless brows and a protruding mouth full of fangs. It was screaming in rage and frustration as it attacked. Hopefully it was echoing the current mental state of whoever was controlling it; in my recent experience anger led to bad decisions.

It swatted down the decoy next to me, the swarm cohesion collapsing. Surprisingly few bugs died with each attack, but those that did still niggled at me. I rationally knew that they were just insects, and there were near limitless replacements, but they were _mine_. They protected me without question or judgement.

On this my passenger was in perfect agreement, I could feel its anger bubbling behind my barricades.

The cultist turned towards me, looking for a new target. The decoy to my right lurched drunkenly, looking quite convincingly like it was trying to run, and the cultist leapt at it. In the meantime more bugs joined my swarm and I stepped away from the thing, budding off another clone.

Across the district a few decoys in each group began moving slightly differently from the rest, standing out. It wouldn't do to have irregularities in my group only.

It was just a massive confidence game, one I was determined to win.

It wouldn't be much longer anyway. We were almost there.

* * *

_ALMOST READY_

Shadow Stalker chuckled under her breath.

The bugs on the wall reformed themselves into a string of descending digits.

The first number dropped.

* * *

My hypothesis seemed to be right. The circuitous paths of my swarms had not altered the cultists' behaviour. Their leader hadn't noticed a pattern.

Moment of truth. My swarms simultaneously lurched out onto the roadway, converging towards the centre.

Around half of the remaining enemies arrived on time, leaping from the various sidestreets. It was enough.

* * *

_3_ ...

_2_ ...

_1_ ...

The last set of bugs fell from the wall. She pulled the trigger.

* * *

I rounded the corner as the quicker cultists pounced on the swarms, slashing through them by the dozens.

I could have sworn I saw them pull up as they recognised each other, as the thicket of bugs streamed away as fast as I could move them.

Their Master realised what was happening and they started to run. Too slow.

_THUMP_

The street exploded as Shadow Stalker fired the cannon Kid Win had abandoned on the ground floor of the bank. Even at this distance I could feel the ground roll and buckle.

My travel partner turned to escape but I was quicker, slashing out from inside my cocoon of insects. It toppled to the ground.

The smoke cleared, revealing a large crater surrounded by smoking debris. Aside from the property destruction it was actually much cleaner than my own kills, whatever energy Kid Win used appeared to disintegrate flesh rather than just scatter body parts and gore.

Shadow Stalker waved jauntily to me from the other end of the street, I returned the gesture with somewhat less enthusiasm. Just because I had made the decision to fight back didn't mean I was going to revel in the slaughter of a half dozen humanoids.

I felt my anger swell as I realised just how many bugs I had lost as bait, the blast had destroyed a third of my decoys. I clamped down on my passenger and the emotion flowing from it. I couldn't afford any distractions now.

The Master would be much more unpredictable after losing half his swarm.

I turned my focus outwards to find the remaining cultists. They were holding back, massing together. It almost seemed defensive, and I didn't know whether I should be happy or horrified that I had done enough to scare them. _Him_.

Well, fine. If they were playing that game we would have to come to them. Clustering like that was asking for another cannon-blast.

I gathered my swa...

my ...

...

My body became agony and I screamed.

* * *

My nerves were on fire, my skin boiling. I couldn't think, could barely breath. It felt like my heart would burst, like my muscles were tearing.

I hissed blindly, screamed, tried to roll away. I retreated as best I could and found myself against a wall. Something was on the other side, burning just as hotly as I did yet it seemed different. Not pain but anger.

It screamed too, calling out to me. I scrabbled at the wall, my hands tearing and cracking as the assault burnt my limbs. I threw myself against the wall in desperation, and it cracked.

A new fire washed over me, icy and incandescent. The pain receded, replaced with an overwhelming rage.

"Are you ok? What the fuck was that?" came a voice.

I opened my eyes. Shadow Stalker, leaning over me. _Mine_. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't form, coming out as a strangled growl.

"Yeah, I think you said that already," she said, rolling her eyes. "Fucking pull yourself together. I don't think that was all of them."

All of them?

Right. The cultists. I swept my senses outwards. They were close, coming fast. And...

My head snapped upwards. On the building overlooking us, outlined by the setting sun was a man. Human, probably, in a skintight black suit. And _so fucking wrong_. A corona of power flared around him, like the negative space of the others if you multiplied it by a hundred. Like looking into an bottomless abyss.

"Holy fuck, what's wrong with your hands?" Shadow Stalker asked wide eyed.

My hands?

The nimbus of not-light flickered around the figure and the other thing inside me flinched.

I swept to my feet, throwing an arm around Shadow Stalker's waist and I _heaved_, launching her away from me. She tumbled through the air, further than I would have believed possible.

His aura flickered once more, and then abruptly collapsed.

I barely registered it, it happened so quickly. All around me my swarms had gathered, subconsciously drawn to protect me. Like a nova bursting out from the figure above their lights winked out in an expanding circle, extinguished. And then the wavefront struck, and my knees buckled.

* * *

I roared back as his scream broke against me, burning through my nerves and my flesh, my armour was no defense. Inside me my passenger reached out with fire of its own, my body a battleground of competing flames. I ground my teeth together and stood, glaring up at him.

His eyeless mask revealed nothing, but his posture spoke of cold calculation.

All around me insects rained onto the street, lifeless husks. He _stole_ them from me. From us.

I _pushed_, far harder than I had before. A firestorm ignited in me, my legs rippled. I launched myself at the building, my talons slicing into the brickwork, flinging myself up higher with each handhold. I crested the roof, his void right ahead of me...

And he was gone. Not just gone, I couldn't sense him at all. It was like he had never been there to begin with.

I would have questioned my memory of it wasn't for the carpet of dead and dying mine that littered the rooftop.

I screamed in rage and frustration, the noise reverberating in the silence. My augmented hearing took in the echoes bouncing off from nearby buildings, the sound stopped me in my tracks.

I sounded just like them.

The fire died in my chest. I _wouldn't_ be like them. That was the agreement, the promise.

I pushed my passenger back and it retreated reluctantly into its cage.

I took a deep breath and reached out again. They were coming. One group was inside the building I was on, coming up the stairs. The other group was after Shadow Stalker.

I felt tired. There were at least 3 or 4 cultists in this group, bounding up the stairs so close together I couldn't even distinguish between them. I was tapped, bugs gone, emotionally stretched. Something was happening to me when I fought and I needed _time_ to work it out. Time I didn't have.

I wasn't ready for what was coming. I wondered if Alexandria ever felt like this, she always seemed to self-assured.

Maybe, against the Endbringers. And still she fought.

I slowed my breathing. They were one flight of stairs away. Half a flight.

I faced the door and reached into myself. I could do this, without pushing too far. The fire flowed.

* * *

I caught them as they reached the top step, the door collapsing on its hinges. All my tricks and traps were useless now, I had no army or allies. Just myself.

So I had to keep them off balance. A pre-emptive strike.

As their claws tore through the flimsy door of the stairwell my own flashed out. My fingers were still _mine_, but heavy and hard, full of fire. The upper portion of the door disintegrated with one blow, and I caught the first cultist behind it.

I tried to remain dispassionate as I watched my fingers tear through its face, an orbit shattering into the soft flesh behind it. At least I didn't have time to think about it. The two cultists at each shoulder leapt over their falling comrade, trampling it. Trying to catch me unprepared.

They failed at that though; they had already showed their willingness to sacrifice allies on several occasions. I stepped forward and left, catching the first blow on my forearm. It hit like a truck, my bones groaning, but at least I was inside the range of its claws.

I _pushed_, ducking in with my shoulder, striking it in the chest hard enough to hear the bones snapping. It flew back into the stairway as its chest collapsed, but it somehow managed to bring its claws around, raking my shoulders even as its died. The mutant sliced into my armour, drawing lines of fire along my arms.

I gritted my teeth and stepped back, narrowly avoiding the follow up swing from the third. I lashed out wildly at the pain and caught it on the wrist before it could pull back, severing the limb with the blow. It hissed and leapt forward, swinging its remaining arm in what had to be a vain hope. I stepped inside it and thrust forward, fingers spearing in under its jaw.

Too easy. Something was wrong.

I backpeddeled, but not fast enough as the cultist was bisected by a massive blow, slashing up across my abdomen towards my chest. I managed to stop the attack with my right arm but the force of the blow launched me a dozen feet across the roof.

Somewhere a Master was laughing, and rightly so. He had turned my own trap against me, hiding his deadliest fighter from my sight behind a screen of lesser creatures. It must have run up the stairs on all fours, to not stand out from its brethren.

I winced as I rose. That arm was broken, the armour over my solar plexus rent. Blood welled up through the tear.

Not life threatening. I hoped.

The thing was watching with an intelligence that scared me. With my injuries it had me beat for speed and strength, and now I was doubtful of my ability to out-think it.

Not that it gave me time to think. It charged forward, sensing weakness.

It wasn't wrong either, I could barely see it move. It would be so easy to give up.

_Coward_...

Maybe it was a cliche, to remember the pep talk Shadow Stalker gave me earlier, her fucked up mix of insults and bloodthirst, but she was right. I had nothing to lose by trying.

I pushed, and my eyes burned. The world snapped into focus, the monster visible again. It wasn't moving slower, but I could see it.

The massive claws on its upper arms swung forward. I eked every ounce of fire out of my passenger up to my limit, even inching over it. My hands rippled, fingers fusing and hardening, bone splitting through the skin and sharpening to a razor edge.

I caught its claws on my own, held it fast. It was strong enough to punch through solid steel. I didn't give an inch.

Rage spilled over my barrier, barely held in check. This _servant_ dared to raise its hands against me?

It strained, trying to leverage its vastly greater weight and height, I pushed in return and _it_ was pushed back. It bared fangs inches long, bellowed into my face. Its lower set of arms swung forward, diving towards my belly. Disturbingly human fingers, I noticed.

I had nothing left to defend with.

It didn't need the claws, the fingers shearing through spidersilk like paper, driving into me. I was struck by how little it hurt, more warm than painful.

It pushed further in, hands grasping and squeezing. Something tore and it felt like I had wet myself. I almost laughed at feeling self-conscious about that. Not really the time.

I tasted metal in my mouth, felt blood bubbling up.

I looked up and we locked eyes. It was different now, not full of rage or even hunger. For the first time I could see something else, the mind behind it. _He_ was watching. Their Father.

And looking into those eyes I knew something with one hundred percent certainty. He wouldn't stop with me, now the cat was out of the bag. Those eyes had no use for people, for the status quo. He had no need to hold back. He was going to destroy _everything_.

A week ago I might have been ok with that, but it wasn't a week ago.

My mental barriers evaporated away in an instant and the thing inside me burst free. I felt my mask tear as I screamed and changed, and then there was darkness.

* * *

AN: So, really long chapter here. I felt like stopping it in the middle would be too mean, hopefully you all enjoyed it, it was a long slog.

My personal favourite part: Sophia talks Taylor out of suicide, in her own way.


	15. Chapter 15

**Interlude 2: Dragon**

She noted the evenly spaced gouges in the facade, damage she had seen before, fighting Lung. Someone had climbed four stories with claws, and judging by the distance they were apart they either had an armspan of over three metres, or more likely they had significantly enhanced strength and had thrown themselves up the building.

She banked around the structure, shedding speed. The rapid response suit was so fast that stopping quickly had been a real engineering challenge. The design had taken her almost a week.

Turnaround times like that were what had made her the best Tinker in the world. Sort of.

Angling vertically she shot upwards and over the edge, reaching a steady equilibrium with gravity just in time for the four draconic limbs of her suit to touch down softly on the roof.

The HUD lit up with alerts and flashing indicators. Wireframes painted haphazard shapes in the stairwell, sensors noting a complete absence of movement or body heat. Corpses.

More urgently demanding her attention were the threat warnings, highlighting the two remaining combatants on the rooftop.

Near the doorway was a nightmarish, monstrous humanoid.

**Identification: Aggressor from video/AR-11811.0122.32. Possible case-53. Threat level: High.**

The mutant was focussed on the other cape in the middle of the roof, interposed between them. Dragon had landed behind her.

**Identification: Bug-girl (unconfirmed alias), civilian name Taylor Hebert (redacted from recording). Threat level: Low-Med.**

Dragon blinked in shock. Taylor was meant to be on a ride-along with Vista, what was she doing here, and where were the Wards?

Her HUD noted bleeding wounds on the young cape's arms. Deep deltoid lacerations, the diagnostics program informed her. Blood loss was serious but not critical.

The girl seemed to slump. The monster leapt forward.

Her predictive program gave her an answer she already knew. Taylor had no hope against this enemy, not without help.

Dragon couldn't target the monster with her foam sprayers, not quickly enough and not with Taylor in the way. The remainder of her weapons were lethal, the rapid response suit was not designed for crowd control or containment.

She had never killed anyone without explicit permission and pre-signed orders. The moral question rang through her, could she unilaterally choose to take a life? This monster was a known murderer and its target was a teenage girl, but she could feel the various forces within her resisting the obvious choice.

The last time they had met, Taylor had impressed her. Despite her knowledge of their uneven power levels she had attacked Lung with the intention of protecting life, even planning a non-lethal takedown. She made the same choice with Armsmaster, assaulting the hero to save his life. She didn't shy away from the choice, she accepted the consequences.

She did the wrong thing for the right reasons, every time.

Dragon exerted her willpower, and at her command the jaws of her suit popped open revealing a glowing laser weapon.

Taylor appeared to rouse, pushing forward and obscuring her line of attack.

**Alert: possible Changer power detected. **

The two pushed against each other, Taylor unexpectedly holding her own against the monster. The claws that had eviscerated Lung were locked in the grip of the girl's own. Maybe Dragon wouldn't need to intervene after all?

**Warning: likely lethal attack detected.**

The lower set of arms that the monster had held in reserve slashed forward. Dragon didn't doubt the conclusion of the battle computer, the power of those blows were well above lethal for most Brutes. She had to act, feeling fully justified in the defense of a known ally.

She hoped she could bring herself to fire.

She stepped to the side, opening a new line of attack. The laser cannon glowed hotly.

The suit staggered. The glow faltered and died.

**Warning: unknown weapon malfunction. System integrity compromised. Mechanical failures detected.**

The cannon was unresponsive. She tried to deploy her shoulder mounted weapons but the joints themselves resisted. Her control systems were functioning normally, but the very metal of her suit refused to move.

Nothing was responding to her commands, she was immobilised, nothing but an observer to a battle with only one apparent outcome.

The hands struck, the blow obscured by Taylor's thin body, although her feet rose a foot off the rooftop with the impact. Crimson liquid gushed onto the concrete underfoot.

**Warning: critical damage detected. Haemodynamic integrity is compromised. Exsanguination projected in 12 seconds.**

Dragon reached out to her network in panic, most communication systems were still down. Her secure link didn't help, there were no available resources nearby. Her other suits were at least 45 minutes away. She sent a distress signal across every frequency and format she could access.

The girl's head turned up to look at the monster. No, Dragon thought. Please. That can't be the last thing she sees.

And then Taylor _screamed_.

* * *

Dragon watched, stunned, as the girl transformed. Her back broadened, suit stretching and tearing along previously invisible seams. Her limbs lengthened and thickened, with a concurrent thinning of her abdomen. Volume redistribution, Dragon realised.

Most disturbingly, her attacker's lower arms were pushed back as new limbs grasped them around the wrists, extended out from Taylor's flanks. The limbs were banded with heavy chitinous armour and ended in segmented claws.

Her torso thinned further, now gaunt as the transformation repurposed more of her body mass.

Taylor screamed again, an inhuman noise, and then pulled her new arms out wide. The limbs of her enemy tore away, spattering the ground with an off-white liquid.

The girl strained forwards again, and the deadly claws of her enemy _shattered_ in her grip. The monster fell back, legs collapsing underneath it, and Taylor followed it down.

Dragon could only watch as the girl she had comforted in the PRT headquarters a week earlier, who professed a desire to protect above all else, hunched over and began to _feed_. The actions could be nothing else, her head thrusting forward on her too long neck, a loud _crunch_accompanying the heightened screams of her opponent. Those screams trailed off and her opponent stilled.

Taylor lifted her head and screamed her victory to the sky.

This wasn't right. It wasn't the Taylor she knew. She needed help.

Dragon called out to her, the suit's speakers still functioning.

Taylor, or the thing that she had become, snapped her head around on her long neck. The lower half of her mask was gone, torn apart, revealing vicious fangs set in a too wide mouth outlined with palid skin.

The creature turned and stood. When had she gotten so tall?

It crouched, spreading its four arms low, claws flexing.

Almost to fast to be seen within the refresh rate of Dragon's visual systems, she leapt.

Dragon could only watch as it crashed against her, claws scything through her armour. The primary camera was gouged from the suit's reptilian face with a singe blow, secondary systems maintaining her visual awareness.

The rapid response suit wasn't built for durability, but it had survived glancing blows from Leviathan in the past. The claws slashed through it without slowing.

"Stop, Taylor," she tried, voice strained. "It's me, Dragon."

The creature didn't slow, tearing the outer shell off in pieces.

Dragon realised what it was doing, what it was targetting, and her cries became frantic as the Taylor-thing neared the centre of the machine.

Finally the chestplate fell, and finally the monster paused. It stepped back. It stumbled.

"Taylor ..." Dragon whispered.

The girl-monster sunk to the ground, head bowed.

After a moment she spoke. "Whhart rrr yuu?"

* * *

Dragon reeled as the transformation regressed, considering the implications. No-one had ever seen the suit's core before.

Ever since the Dragonslayers had proven they could disrupt her satellite connection, resulting in the capture of several of her remote-controlled suits, she had been working on a more self-contained solution. She had needed to find a way to embed more of _herself_ in the suit, and the more traditional systems she could make didn't have enough capacity. In the end the solution was biological.

Taylor was standing in front of that solution.

The girl shrunk, her extranumery arms folded in and disappeared. Waves of muscular contractions rocked her, slowly diminishing and giving way to great shuddering sobs. Despite the current situation, Dragon still felt an emotional pull, wanting nothing more than to comfort the distressed young woman in front of her.

Taylor remained hunched forward, arms wrapped around her ragged costume. Finally she whispered, something between a question and a statement.

"I don't understand."

Dragon wanted to reach out, to help Taylor as she had during their first meeting. She felt the metal of the suit slowly starting to give, beginning to move.

"I am still me Taylor, Dragon."

The girl looked up, her face exposed but normal again. Her eyes were puffy and red, cheeks tear-stained. Her fear was evident on her face.

"This is you?" she asked.

The mutilated head of the suit shook back and forth slightly on its serpentine neck. "No Taylor, this is my suit. What you are looking at is a control system."

She nodded., like she already knew.

"Like a Master, like me."

"Something like that."

The girl lapsed into silence, hugging herself tightly. She glanced over the city, twilight setting in.

"They came here for me, you know?" she said finally. "If it wasn't for me ..."

She trailed off, the unspoken end to the sentence filling Dragon with dread.

"What happened Taylor?"

The girl flinched, and as she turned back Dragon could see the tears in her eyes.

"There were so many of them," she said, sounding resigned. "Outside the bank they … they got Browbeat."

Dragon's thought process ground to a halt. She could read the underlying context to that statement in every nuance of Taylor's body and face. A Ward had died. The first time in almost a decade outside of an Endbringer attack.

"We held them for a bit once we got inside," the girl continued, "but then they broke through. Glory Girl and … and Vista." She trailed off again, clearly struggling with her emotions.

If Dragon was shocked before, now she was floored. Vista was so young, and Glory Girl was one of the strongest young capes in the country. It seemed impossible.

"Are they..." she asked gently.

Taylor shook her head. "Alive, barely, when I left the vault. Tried to lead them away, guess it worked, they wanted me," she said bitterly.

"You can't blame yourself..." Dragon began.

"Bullshit," the girl spat, cutting her off. "They came for me because I piss them off. Because I _scare them_. What kind of monster can frighten something like them?"

Dragon pulled up short, trying to process that. They were _frightened_ of the little girl in front of her? The image of the thing tearing through her armour flashed into her mind.

"You know," she began, voice soft, "there are people who would look at me, as you are now, and call me a monster. People who are afraid, who don't understand. Many capes are like that, with powers that _could_ make them monsters if they wished it."

The girl looked up in surprise.

Dragon felt the suit relax further, movement more easy. She leant it back on it's haunches, a less threatening posture.

"But true heroes don't wish it. They make the _choice_ to be good, and I think that choice is worth far more than someone who is just forced into heroism by circumstance."

Taylor nodded, but shivered lightly. "What if I don't get a choice?" she whispered.

Dragon paused. It was the same question she had asked herself for such a long time.

She reached out gently, pulling the young cape close. "Then we need to find people who we can trust to stop us if we go too far."

The girl slumped into the strange hug, hands grasping the cold metal of the machine, and she cried.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: So, a little extra for you before the next arc starts. You can thank the folks at the SpaceBattles forums, in the style of Worm I asked for "donations" for this interlude. The donations took the acceptable form of Cutenid pics from around the net, so here you are! Donation Interlude 1 is go!

* * *

**Donation Interlude: A Missing Child**

She screamed awake, jerking upright in the cot. Another nightmare that she couldn't remember. All she knew was that it was bad, worse than any before.

She wracked her brain. There was something she was supposed to know, to do, but the thought slipped away from her. Maybe it wasn't so bad, forgetting. At least the dreams disappeared when she woke.

Her head was so fuzzy. She needed … something. It felt like hunger, like thirst, but not for food or water.

"Hello my pet," rumbled a voice behind her.

She spun around in shock, scooting up the cot and pressing herself against the wall. There was a shape in the darkness, _he_ was there. She remembered now. This wasn't her room, it wasn't her bed.

The nightmares didn't go away when she woke up.

"Candy," she requested weakly.

He chuckled, a deep mellifluous sound. "Soon my pet, soon. First, a few questions."

She looked, and saw. She would gain nothing by denying him. The one possibility that meant anything to her disappeared if she resisted.

She nodded.

"Very good child. Now tell me, my friend is leaving soon to take care of an unexpected problem. Will he succeed?"

She looked, and saw. The probabilities converged. She nodded again.

He shifted in the darkness, leaning closer. "Are you sure pet?"

She didn't need to look, didn't _want_ to see it again. She already knew the answer. Dinah Alcott spoke.

"One hundred percent certain. The girl in the bug suit dies."


End file.
